COMPUTER SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BUILDING A HARDWARE DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE REPRESENTATION OF CONTROL LOGIC FOR A COMPLEX DIGITAL SYSTEM

A computer system and method for generating a hardware description language source code file with embedded microcode segments for describing control logic of a complex digital system. A macro file is defined, comprising source code written in the hardware description language and a macro name associated with a segment of the source microcode in the macro file. A skeleton file is defined, comprising source code written in the hardware description language and including a reference to the macro name. The skeleton file is combined with the segment of the source microcode from the macro file at the reference to the macro name using a preprocessor to form a final source code file. Preferably, each microcode segment is encapsulated between a pair of comment statements expressed in the hardware description language. The comment statements identify macro names that are used for specifying a location within a hardware description language source code file at which the encapsulated microcode statement will be instantiated. This protocol enables the designer to preserve the attributes of the microcode while using the advantages of a hardware description language programming framework.