The Howdy Glossary

Behavioral Description Language (BDL) is tailored for modeling and simulating the behavior of digital systems, particularly hardware components. It allows developers to focus on high-level abstraction, emphasizing functionality over low-level implementation details. This method aids in optimizing performance, power consumption, and reliability by identifying potential design flaws or inefficiencies early in the development process.

BDL is not attributed to a single creator but has been developed through contributions from various researchers and experts in digital system design. Its language features include state machines, high-level finite state machines (FSM), protocols, and transaction-level models which facilitate accurate behavior capture while avoiding low-level complexities. These attributes make BDL invaluable for visualizing and analyzing intricate behaviors within digital systems.

While other hardware description languages like VHDL and Verilog are also used for describing hardware behavior, BDL stands out due to its higher focus on behavioral abstraction. This enables developers to describe complex system behaviors more intuitively without getting bogged down by detailed implementation aspects. The unique emphasis on accurately capturing behavior using advanced modeling techniques makes BDL a powerful tool for enhancing digital system design efficiency and effectiveness by addressing performance issues early in the process.