The notes discuss modeling finite state machines (FSMs) in VHDL using different process styles:
- One process describes the state register, state transitions, and output logic. It is easily described but has verbose syntax and one clock latency for outputs.
- Two processes where the first describes the state register and the second describes the combinational logic. It is easier to debug and has more readable code but outputs are not registered and requires assigning next states and outputs for all cases.
FSMs can be easily described with processes if certain synthesis rules are followed like describing state transitions in a process sensitive to clock and asynchronous reset.