01 — Basic Logic Gates in Verilog

VLSI Design Portfolio · Step 1 of 8 Verilog HDL implementation of all fundamental logic gates from scratch — with individual testbenches, GTKWave simulation waveforms, and truth table verification for every gate.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Repository Structure
• Gates Implemented
• Block Diagram
• Truth Tables
• Simulation Instructions
• Waveforms
• Concepts Covered
• Tools Used
• What's Next

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Overview

This is the first repository in my journey of building a 16-bit pipelined RISC processor from scratch using Verilog HDL.

Every component of a digital system — from a simple adder to a full processor — reduces to basic logic gates at the transistor level. This repository implements all 7 fundamental gates individually, each with its own dedicated Verilog module, testbench, and verified simulation waveform.

Each gate is implemented using continuous assignment (assign) — the standard approach for combinational logic in RTL design — and verified against its complete truth table.

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Repository Structure

01-basic-logic-gates/
│
├── src/                        # Verilog HDL source files
│   ├── and_gate.v              # 2-input AND gate
│   ├── or_gate.v               # 2-input OR gate
│   ├── not_gate.v              # Single-input NOT gate (inverter)
│   ├── nand_gate.v             # 2-input NAND gate
│   ├── nor_gate.v              # 2-input NOR gate
│   ├── xor_gate.v              # 2-input XOR gate
│   └── xnor_gate.v             # 2-input XNOR gate
│
├── tb/                         # Testbench files
│   ├── and_gate_tb.v
│   ├── or_gate_tb.v
│   ├── not_gate_tb.v
│   ├── nand_gate_tb.v
│   ├── nor_gate_tb.v
│   ├── xor_gate_tb.v
│   └── xnor_gate_tb.v
│
├── sim/                        # Simulation waveforms and outputs
│   ├── and_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── and_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── or_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── or_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── not_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── not_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── nand_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── nand_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── nor_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── nor_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── xor_gate_waveform.png
│   ├── xor_gate_terminal.png
│   ├── xnor_gate_waveform.png
│   └── xnor_gate_terminal.png
│
├── docs/                       # Documentation and diagrams
│   └── gate_symbols.png        # Circuit symbols and truth table reference
│
└── README.md

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Gates Implemented

#	Gate	Symbol	Boolean Expression	Gate Type
1	AND	&	Y = A · B	Basic
2	OR	`	`	Y = A + B
3	NOT	~	Y = Ā	Basic
4	NAND	~&	Y = ̄(A · B)	Universal
5	NOR	`~	`	Y = ̄(A + B)
6	XOR	^	Y = A ⊕ B	Arithmetic
7	XNOR	~^	Y = ̄(A ⊕ B)	Arithmetic

Note: NAND and NOR are called Universal Gates because any Boolean function can be implemented using only NAND gates or only NOR gates. XOR is the foundation of binary addition — it directly computes the sum bit in a half adder.

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Block Diagram

The diagram below shows all 7 gate circuit symbols with their Boolean expressions, Verilog assign statements, and a combined truth table summary.

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Truth Tables

AND Gate — Y = A · B

A	B	Y
0	0	0
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	1

OR Gate — Y = A + B

A	B	Y
0	0	0
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	1

NOT Gate — Y = Ā

A	Y
0	1
1	0

NAND Gate — Y = ̄(A · B)

A	B	Y
0	0	1
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

NOR Gate — Y = ̄(A + B)

A	B	Y
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	0

XOR Gate — Y = A ⊕ B

A	B	Y
0	0	0
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

XNOR Gate — Y = ̄(A ⊕ B)

A	B	Y
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	1

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Simulation Instructions

Requirements

• Icarus Verilog — open-source Verilog simulator
• GTKWave — waveform viewer

How to simulate any gate

Step 1 — Compile

iverilog -o and_gate_sim and_gate.v and_gate_tb.v

Step 2 — Run simulation

vvp and_gate_sim

Step 3 — View waveform

gtkwave and_gate.vcd

Quick reference — all gates

# AND
iverilog -o and_gate_sim and_gate.v and_gate_tb.v
vvp and_gate_sim

# OR
iverilog -o or_gate_sim or_gate.v or_gate_tb.v
vvp or_gate_sim

# NOT
iverilog -o not_gate_sim not_gate.v not_gate_tb.v
vvp not_gate_sim

# NAND
iverilog -o nand_gate_sim nand_gate.v nand_gate_tb.v
vvp nand_gate_sim

# NOR
iverilog -o nor_gate_sim nor_gate.v nor_gate_tb.v
vvp nor_gate_sim

# XOR
iverilog -o xor_gate_sim xor_gate.v xor_gate_tb.v
vvp xor_gate_sim

# XNOR
iverilog -o xnor_gate_sim xnor_gate.v xnor_gate_tb.v
vvp xnor_gate_sim

# View waveform
gtkwave gate_name.vcd

Expected simulation output

Each testbench applies all input combinations and displays the input and output values on the terminal. A .vcd waveform file is also generated which can be opened in GTKWave.

Example output for AND gate:

Time=0 a=0 b=0 y=0
Time=10000 a=0 b=1 y=0
Time=20000 a=1 b=0 y=0
Time=30000 a=1 b=1 y=1

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Waveforms

AND Gate

OR Gate

NOT Gate

NAND Gate

NOR Gate

XOR Gate

XNOR Gate

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Concepts Covered

Verilog

• module and endmodule — defining a hardware block
• input wire and output wire — port declarations
• assign statement — continuous assignment for combinational logic
• Bitwise operators — &, |, ~, ^, ~&, ~|, ~^
• Testbench structure — timescale, reg, initial block, $display, $dumpfile, $dumpvars, $finish
• Module instantiation — named port connection syntax .port(signal)

Digital Design

• Behaviour of all 7 fundamental gates
• NAND and NOR as universal gates — any circuit can be built from only these
• XOR as the sum generator in binary addition — foundation of the ALU (coming in Repo 5)
• Difference between combinational logic (no memory) and sequential logic (covered in Repo 3)
• Continuous assignment — models real wires that are always active

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Tools Used

Tool	Purpose
Icarus Verilog	Compilation and simulation
GTKWave	Waveform viewing and verification
VS Code	Code editor
Git	Version control

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What's Next

This repository is Step 1 in an 8-step roadmap building up to a complete 16-bit pipelined RISC processor.

Step	Repository	Status
1	01-basic-logic-gates	✅ Complete
2	02-combinational-circuits	✅ Complete
3	03-sequential-circuits	✅ Complete
4	04-finite-state-machines	🔨 In Progress
5	05-alu-16bit	⏳ Upcoming
6	06-processor-components	⏳ Upcoming
7	07-risc16-pipelined-processor	⏳ Upcoming
8	08-protocols-and-interfaces	⏳ Upcoming

The XOR gate built here directly becomes the sum bit generator inside the full adder, which becomes part of the 16-bit ALU, which becomes the Execute (EX) stage of the pipelined RISC processor.

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Author

Abhi Chandra B — B.Tech ECE, 3rd Year Building a complete VLSI design portfolio from logic gates to a pipelined processor.

Part of an 8-repository VLSI learning roadmap — from AND gate to 16-bit pipelined RISC processor.