Verilog Language Overview

The Verilog Hardware Description Language was originally developed by Gateway Design Automation together with the Verilog-XL simulator. It was first introduced in 1984. In 1989 Cadence Design Systems acquired Gateway, and with it the rights to the Verilog language and the Verilog-XL simulator. In 1990, Cadence released the Verilog language and the Verilog Programming Language Interface (PLI) to the public domain. A non profit organisation, Open Verilog Internation (OVI) was formed to control the public domain Verilog and to promote its usage.

In 1993, OVI released its Verilog 2.0 Reference Manual, which contained a few enhancements to the original Verilog language. OVI then submitted a request to the IEEE to formally standardize Verilog 2.0. In 1995 the Verilog 2.0 became the IEEE standard 1364-1995. IEEE 1364-1995 became the official Verilog standard.

The IEEE standard 1364-2001 is an updated version of the 1364-1995 standard.