On the past 30th, the book High-Level Synthesis in FPGA was presented. The book is authored by Paulo Flores and Horácio C. Neto, professors at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Técnico, and Mário Véstias, a PhD alumnus in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Técnico and currently a professor at the Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Computer Engineering at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL).

The event took place at the Main Hall of the Presidency Services of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon (IPL) and featured the presentation of the book and its authors by Dr. Luís Gomes, professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NOVA School of Science and Technology.

Ricardo Pinheiro, Vice-President of IPL, began by congratulating the authors, highlighting the rigor and relevance of the work, which is the result of years of research, teaching experience in electrical and computer engineering, and the combined knowledge of professors from Técnico and ISEL. He also addressed the book’s key concepts and structure, and concluded his speech by emphasizing the importance of the publication not only for students' learning but also for its contribution to connecting with society.

This was followed by an intervention from Luís Gomes, who, in addition to the scientific relevance of the work, pointed out that the book not only addresses the complexity of digital systems but also explores high-level programming languages. After his reflections on the book’s contents, Luís Gomes gave a brief presentation of each of the authors.

The presentation also included contributions from Paulo Flores, Horácio Neto, and Mário Véstias, who expressed their gratitude for the support given to the project and shared a few words about the process of bringing it to fruition.

At the end of the session, attendees had the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of the book.

📷 See photos by clicking the green button after following this link.

Book Summary

The advancement of technology has led to an increase in the complexity of digital systems. As a result, it has become necessary to use more abstract circuit descriptions and adopt new synthesis tools for their design and development. This approach contributes to increased productivity in digital system design and allows for broader exploration of the design space.

The book explores various aspects of high-level synthesis (HLS) for digital systems targeting FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) and is structured into three parts. It begins by introducing the fundamental concepts necessary to understand digital hardware design. It then presents programming structures for high-level synthesis, including loop synthesis, interface synthesis, synthesis of arbitrary precision data types, and modular synthesis. Finally, it provides a series of illustrative examples demonstrating the application of high-level synthesis.

The book is intended for both students and professionals in the field of hardware design. In academic settings, it can be used as a reference for courses focused on digital system design using high-level synthesis. In professional contexts, it serves as both a training resource and a reference guide.