How can i reduce number of ALMs in my VHDL design? - vhdl

Question

I'm trying to implement an alarm module for the digital clock in VHDL. I have written architecture for it, but when I run Compilation I get too many Adaptive Logic Modules (around 2000), which I think is too much. I will post my code below.
I think division and modulus operation could be causing it, in this line of code.
alarm_hour1 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedHours/10,alarm_hour1'length));
alarm_hour0 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedHours mod 10,alarm_hour0'length));
alarm_minute1 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedMinutes/10,alarm_minute1'length));
alarm_minute0 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedMinutes mod 10,alarm_minute0'length));
Still, I'm not sure how can I work around this.
Also, I would be very grateful if You give more comments on my design, and point out some mistakes, and ways how I can improve my design. I'm fairly new to VHDL so any advice is appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
library ieee;
use ieee.std_logic_1164.all;
use ieee.std_logic_unsigned.all;
use ieee.numeric_std.all;
entity alarm is
port(
--INPUTS
reset : in std_logic;
clock : in std_logic;
alarm_enable : in std_logic;
alarm_set : in std_logic;
alarm_increment : in std_logic;
alarm_decrement : in std_logic;
currentTime_hour1 : in std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
currentTime_hour0 : in std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
currentTime_minute1 : in std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
currentTime_minute0 : in std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
--OUTPUTS
alarm_buzzer : out std_logic;
alarm_hour1 : buffer std_logic_vector(3 downto 0) := "0000";
alarm_hour0 : buffer std_logic_vector(3 downto 0) := "0000";
alarm_minute1 : buffer std_logic_vector(3 downto 0) := "0000";
alarm_minute0 : buffer std_logic_vector(3 downto 0) := "0000"
);
end alarm;
architecture alarmBehaviour of alarm is
--ALARM TIME
signal savedHours : integer := 0;
signal savedMinutes : integer := 0;
signal incrementDecrementbuttonDetect : std_logic;
signal set_lastButtonState : std_logic := '0';
signal setButtonDetect : std_logic := '0';
--STATE MACHINE
type state_type is (idle, setHour, setMinute);
signal state_reg, state_next : state_type;
begin
incrementDecrementbuttonDetect <= alarm_increment or alarm_decrement;
--STATE REGISTER
process(clock, reset)
begin
if (reset = '1') then
state_reg <= idle;
elsif rising_edge(clock) then
state_reg <= state_next;
end if;
end process;
--SET BUTTON PRESSED
process(clock)
begin
if(rising_edge(clock)) then
if(alarm_set = '1' and set_lastButtonState = '0') then
setButtonDetect <= '1';
else
setButtonDetect <= '0';
end if;
set_lastButtonState <= alarm_set;
end if;
end process;
--NEXT STATE
process(state_reg, setButtonDetect)
begin
case state_reg is
when idle =>
if setButtonDetect = '1' then
state_next <= setHour;
else
state_next <= idle;
end if;
when setHour =>
if setButtonDetect = '1' then
state_next <= setMinute;
else
state_next <= setHour;
end if;
when setMinute =>
if setButtonDetect = '1' then
state_next <= idle;
else
state_next <= setMinute;
end if;
end case;
end process;
process (incrementDecrementbuttonDetect, state_reg)
begin
if rising_edge(incrementDecrementbuttonDetect) then
case state_reg is
when idle =>
when setHour =>
if alarm_increment = '1' then
if savedHours = 23 then
savedHours <= 0;
else
savedHours <= savedHours + 1;
end if;
else null;
end if;
if alarm_decrement = '1' then
if savedHours = 0 then
savedHours <= 23;
else
savedHours <= savedHours - 1;
end if;
else null;
end if;
when setMinute =>
if alarm_increment = '1' then
if savedMinutes = 59 then
savedMinutes <= 0;
else
savedMinutes <= savedMinutes + 1;
end if;
else null;
end if;
if alarm_decrement = '1' then
if savedMinutes = 0 then
savedMinutes <= 59;
else
savedMinutes <= savedMinutes - 1;
end if;
else null;
end if;
end case;
end if;
end process;
alarm_hour1 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedHours/10,alarm_hour1'length));
alarm_hour0 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedHours mod 10,alarm_hour0'length));
alarm_minute1 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedMinutes/10,alarm_minute1'length));
alarm_minute0 <= std_logic_vector(to_unsigned(savedMinutes mod 10,alarm_minute0'length));
--ALARM BUZZER CONDITION
process (currentTime_hour1, currentTime_hour0, currentTime_minute1, currentTime_minute0,
alarm_enable, alarm_hour1, alarm_hour0, alarm_minute1, alarm_minute0)
begin
if((alarm_hour1 = currentTime_hour1) and (alarm_hour0 = currentTime_hour0)
and (alarm_minute1 = currentTime_minute1) and (alarm_minute0 = currentTime_minute0) and alarm_enable = '1') then
alarm_buzzer <= '1';
else
alarm_buzzer <= '0';
end if;
end process;
end alarmBehaviour;

Answer 1

Consider keeping the alarm time in Binary-Coded Decimal (BCD) format instead of binary format, whereby you can compare it directly with the current time, that is provided in BCD format.
This is a good example of how using the appropriate internal data format can reduce the computational problem significantly, since you can simply eliminate the costly division and modulo operations by keeping just one data format (BCD) instead of mixing BCD and binary data formats.

Answer 2

The range of signals savedHours and savedMinutes is not specified, so Quartus assumes they are 32 bits wide. Inference of a divider with one 32-bit operand results into a large tree of conditional subtractions.
Updating your code to something like
--ALARM TIME
signal savedHours : natural range 0 to 23 := 0;
signal savedMinutes : natural range 0 to 59 := 0;
will very likely result into less ALM usage.
Also, please note that rising_edge should be used for clock signals only (at VHDL starter level). Instead of connecting logic to the clock input of a register, what you probably want is some button debounce logic.