Structure of verilog module

• It has a declaration of single unit declaration called module

• The verilog module has a declaration and a body
• In the declaration name, inputs, outputs of the module are listed
• The body shows the relationship between inputs and outputs
• The order of declarations of inputs and outputs is irrelevant
• More than one input or output could be written on the same line by using comma to
separate each input or output

The syntax of verilog module is here with an example of half-adder

Module halfadder ( a,b,sum,carry);

input a,b;
output sum, carry;
// blank lines are allowed.
assign sum = a^b;
assign carry = a&b;
endmodule

1
List and describe verilog ports:

Verilog port can be one of the following three modes

• input: the port is only an input port. In any assignment statement, the port should
appear only on RHS of it

• output: the port is an output port. The port can appear on either side of any
assignment statement

• inout: the port can be used as both an input and output. The inout port represents a
bidirectional bus

2
List and describe briefly the different styles of descriptions used in verilog

The style of descriptions used in verilog are as follows

• Behavioral description
• Data flow description
• Structural description
• Switch-level description
• Mixed-style description

 Behavioral description: it is one where the verilog module uses always and initial
construct
 Data flow description: the description generally involve boolean expression for
outputs in terms of inputs
 Structural description: verilog modules is designed using gates
 Switch-level description: it is the lowest level of descriptions. The system is
described using switches and transistors. The verilog keywords nmos, cmos, pmos,
tranif0, tran describe the system.
 Mixed-style description: it uses more than one style of previously mentioned
descriptions within a module.
3
compare VHDL and Verilog

Sl. No. VHDL Verilog

1. It is best at system level
2. Many data types including user
defined, arrays (multi-dimensional)
3. It seems hard to learn for beginners.
4. Short of certain relational operators.
5. Libraries and packages can be defined
and attached to the code.
6. Procedures are used to break-down the
design.
7. Concurrent procedure calls are allowed
and also functions can be written inside
the procedures.
It is best at gate level
Has limited number of data types.
There are no user defined supports,
single dimensional arrays
Easy to learn.
Short of certain shift and rotate
operators.
There is no concept of libraries and
packages
Tasks are used to break-down the
design
Concurrent task calls are allowed,
functions cannot be written, inside
the tasks body.

4
Describe briefly the steps involved in simulation and synthesis.

The following are the steps involved in simulation and synthesis

• Choose the preferred language to describe the system. The language may verilog,
VHDL or mix language
• Choose the style or type of description
• Write the code depending on the style of description chosen
• Compile the code using the computer supplied by the HDL package. If any errors
found correct them and recompile until the code is error free
• Test or simulate the design with known inputs.
• After the simulation verified, the signal behavior is as expected, the compiled code
can be synthesized. The simulator package usually has a synthesizer. The
synthesizer converts the compiled code into a schematic and a net_list
• The net_list can be down loaded onto a chip, uasually FPGA

5
Data types
Net type:

• It represents a physical connection between structural elements

• Its value is determined from the value of its drivers such as a continuous
assignments or a gate output
• if a driver is not connected to a net, the net defaults to a value of z

Variable type:
• It represents an abstract data storage element. It is assigned value only within
an always statement or an initial statement
• Its value is saved from one assignment to the next.
• A variable type has a default value of x

6
Net types

 wire
 tri
 wor
 trior
 wand
 triand
 trireg
 tri0
 tri1
 supply0
 supply1

7
Syntax for net declaration:

Net_kind [signed][msb:lsb]net1,net2,……….,netn;
where net_kind is one of nets listed above
• Keyword signed is used to declare a net that holds a signed value
• By default , a net holds an unsigned value
• msb and lsb are constant expressions that specify the range of the net
• The range specification is optional, if no range is specified , a net defaults to a size of one bit
Ex:
wire a1, a2; // two 1 bit wire nets
wand[2:0]hadder; // hadder is 3 bit vector wand net
define size 16
wire signed[size-1:0]data; // data holds signed value in two’s compliment form

8
• tri:
• The keyword wire and tri have identical syntax and function. However,
separate names are provided to indicate the purpose of net
• The keyword ‘wire’ denotes nets with single drivers and ‘tri’ denotes net that
have multiple drivers
Multiplexer defined below uses tri declaration:
module mux (out, a, b, control);
input a, b, control;
output out;
tri out;
wire a, b, control;
bufif0 b1( out, a, control);// drives a when control=0;z otherwise
bufif1 b2( out, b, control); // drives b when control=1;z otherwise
endmodule
• The net is driven by b1 and b2 in a complimentary manner. When b1 drives a,
b2 is tristated, when b2 drives b, b1 is tristated. Thus there is no logic
contention
• if there are two signals of opposite values and same strength, the resulting
value of the trinet is x
9
• trireg

• keyword trireg is used to model nets having capacitance that stores values
• The default strength for trireg net is medium
• nets of type trireg are in one of two states
 Driven state:
At least one driver drives 0,1 or x values on the net. The value is
continuously stored in the trireg net. It takes the strength of the driver

 Capacitive state:
All drivers on the net have high impedance (z) value. The net holds the last
driven value. The strength is small, medium or large ( default is small )

10
• tri0 and tri1
Keyword tri0 and tri1 are used to model resistive pull down and pull up
devices. A tri0 net has a value 0 if nothing is driving the net. Similarly, tri1 net has
a value 1 if nothing is driving the net. The default strength is pull
Ex:
tri0 out;
wire a, control;
bufif1 ( out , a, control); /* net out gets the value of a, when control=1, when
control=0, out gets value 0 instead of z. if out were
declared as tri1, the default value of out would be 1 instead of 0 */

11
• Supply0 and supply1:

Keyword supply1 is used to model power supply.

Keyword supply0 is used to model ground. Nets declared as supply1 and
supply0 have constant logic values and a strength level
supply( stronger strength level)

supply1 vcc //all nets are connected to vcc are connected to power supply

supply0 gnd // all nets connected to gnd are connected to ground

12
• wor , wand, trior and triand:
When there is logic contention, if we use a trinet, we will get x. This could be
indicative of a design problem
however, sometimes the designer needs to resolve the final logic value when there
are multiple drivers on the net, without using strength levels

Keyword wor, wand, trior and triand are used to resolve such conflicts.
• Net wand performs the AND operation on multiple driver logic values. If any value
is 0, the value of wand is 0
• Net wor performs the OR operation on multiple driver values. If any value is 1, the
net wor is 1
• Nets triand and trior have the same syntax as function as the nets wor and wand
Ex:
wand out1;
wor out2;
Buf ( out1,1’b0);
Buf ( out1,1’b1); // out1 is a wand net, gets the final value 1’b0
Buf ( out2,1’b0);
Buf ( out2,1’b1); // out2 is a wor net, gets the final value 1’b1
13
• Undeclared nets:
It is possible not to declare a net. In such a case, the net defaults to a 1-bit wire
net

This implicit net declaration can be changed by using the default_nettype

compiler directive. It is of the form:
default_nettype net_kind
Ex:
default_nettype wand
any undeclared net defaults to a 1-bit wand net
To enforce all nets to be declared, the value of none can be used with this directive
default_nettype none
In such case, any undeclared nets will be a syntax error. This is often useful to prevent
hard-to-debug error caused by a mistyped name

14
• Vectored and scalared nets:
• The keyword , scalared or vectored, can optionally be specified for a
vectored net
• if a net is declared with the keyword vectored, then bit selects and part-selects
of this vector net are not allowed, in other words, the entire net has to be assigned
Ex:
wire vectored[3:0]count;
// bit select count[2] and part-select count[3:2] are not allowed

wor scalared[4:0] adder;

// same as : wor[4:0] adder;
// bit-select adder[2] and part-select
// adder[3:1] are allowed

If no such keyword is specified, then default is scalared

15
• Variable types:

 reg
 integer
 time
 real
 realtime

16
• reg variable:
It is declared as follows:
reg [ signed] [[ msb : lsb]] reg1, reg2,………..,regn;
Where msb and lsb specify the range and are constant-valued expressions.
The range specification is optional, if there is no range , it defaults to a 1-bit reg variable
Ex:
reg [3:0]exp; // exp is a 4-bit variable
reg test; // test is a 1-bit variable

A reg variable can be of any size. A value in a reg variable is interpreted as an unsigned
number, unless the keyword signed is used, in which the variable holds 2’s compliment
form
reg signed[1:4] a1;
a1=-2; // a1 has 14( 1110) , the two’s compliment of 2
a1=5; // a1 has 5( 0101)

parameter MSB = 16, LSB = 1;

Reg signed[MSB : LSB] counter; //counter holds signed data in two’s compliment //form
17
Memories:
 It is an array of reg variables
 It is declared using a reg declaration of the form
reg[msb : lsb] memory[upper1:lower1],
memory[upper2 : lower2],…..;

Ex:
reg [0:3] mem1[0:63]; // mem1 is a array of sixty four 4-bit reg variables
reg file1[1:5]; // file1 is an array of five 1-bit reg variables

Mem1 and file1 are memories. A memory belongs to the variable data type . Arrays with
more than two dimensions and arrays of nets are allowed

A single reg declaration can be used to declare both variables and memories
Parameter ADDR_SIZE = 16, WORD_SIZE = 8;
reg [1:WORD_SIZE]mem2[ADDR_SIZE-1:0], add;

Mem2 is a memory, an array of sixteen 8-bit reg variables , while add is a 8-bit reg variable

18
 A memory cannot be assigned value in one assignment, but a reg can
Ex:
reg [1:5]b1; // b1 is a 5-bit reg variable
b1 = 5’b11101; is accepted but
reg hold_gnt[1:5]; // hold_gnt is a memory of five 1-bit reg variables
Hold_gnt = 5’ b11101; is not accepted
Instead
Ex:
reg [0:3] a1[1:4];
a1[1] = 4’hA;
a1[2] = 4’hB;
a1[3] = 4’hC;
a1[4] = 4’hD;

19
 To copy the content of one memory to another memory, use a for loop and copy
one word at a time.
Ex:
parameter word_length = 8, num_word = 64;
reg [word_length-1:0] mem_a[num_word-1:0],
mem_b[num_word-1:0];
integer i;
// mem_a = mem_b; is not allowed
for( i=0;i<num_word; i=i+1)
mem_a[i] = mem_b[i];

20
 An alternative way to assign values to a memory is by using the system tasks:
I. $readmem : loads binary values
II. $readmemh : loads hexadecimal values
These system tasks read and load data from a specified text file into a memory
The text file must contain the appropriate form of numbers, either binary or
hexadecimal
Ex:
reg [1:4]cdn_rom[7:1];
$readmemb(“ram.patt”,cdn_rom);
Cdn_rom is a memory. The file ram.patt must contain binary values. The file may also
contain white spaces and comments.
Ex of what may be in the file
1010
1101
1111
0000
1000
1011
1110
21
 If only a part of the memory is to be loaded, the range can be specified in the
$readmemb task such as
$readmemb(“ram.patt”,cdn_rom,5,4,3);
In which only cdn_rom[5], cdn_rom[4] and cdn_rom[3] words are read from the file
beginning at the top.

22
Integer variable:
• It contains integer values

• It can be used as a general purpose variable, typically for modeling high-level

behavior

• It is declared using an integer declaration of the form

integer integer1, integer2,…..integern [msb : lsb];
Where msb and lsb are constant –valued expressions that specifies the range of an
integer array. The array specification is optional

• An integer holds a minimum of 32 bits, however ,an implementation may provide

more
Ex:
integer a,b,c; // three integer variables
integer list[3:6]; // an array of four integers

• An integer variable holds signed quantities and arithmetic operations provides

two’s compliment arithmetic results
23
• An integer can be accessed as a bit-vector

• An integer variable is treated as a signed reg variable with the least significant bit index
of 0
Ex:
reg [31:0] a_reg;
integer a_int;
……
// a_int[6] and a_int[20:10] are allowed
…..
a_reg = a_int;

• This example shows that converting an integer to a bit-vector can be accomplished by

simply using an assignment

• Type conversion is automatic, no special functions are necessary

24
• Converting from a bit-vector to an integer can also be accomplished by using an
assignment
Ex:
integer j ;
reg [3:0] beq;

J = 6; // j has the value 32’b00000………00110

beq = j; // beq has the value 4’b0110

J = -6; // j has the value 32’b1111…….11010

beq = j // beq has the value 4’b1010

25
• Example of an array of integers , showing the declaration , assignments and its
usage

module mod_int_array;
Localparam array_size = 8;
integer int_array[0:array_size-1];

initial
begin
int_array [0] = 56;
int_array [1] = 12;
int_array [2] = int_array[0]/2;
$display(“int_array[2] is %d”, int_array[2]);
end
endmodule

26
Time variable:

• It is a variable used to store and manipulate time values

• It is declared using a time declaration of the form

time time_id1, time_id2,……..,time_idn[ msb:lsb];

Where msb and lsb are constant valued expressions that indicates the range of indices.
If no range is specified, each identifiers stores one time value which is at least 64
bits

• A time variable holds only an unsigned quantity

Ex:
time events [0:3]; // array of time values
time current_time; // current_time holds one time value

27
Real and real time variable:
• A real variable(or a real time variable) can be declared using the following form

// real declaration
real a1,a2,…….,an;
// real time declaration
realtime b1,b2,……..,bn;
• A realtime variable is exactly identical to a real variable.
Ex:
real top_mark;
realtime current_time;

• The default value of a real variable is 0. no range, bit range or word range, is allowed for
declaring a real variable

• When assigning value x or z to a real variable, these values are treated as a 0

real alar_count;
……
alar_count = ‘b01x1z;
Alar_count has the value ‘b01010 after the assignment
28
Arrays:

• A multi-dimensional array of a net or a variable can be declared using an array

declaration
• An element of an array can be a scalar value or a vector value
Ex:
wire push_bus [0:4] ; // an array of 5 elements, where each element is a scalar
//element: 1-bit wire
reg [ 0:7] sum [ 0:63]; // array of 64 elements, each element being a 8-bit vector

tri [ 0:31] addr [0:1][0:3]; // two dimensional array of triwires, each element being
//32-bits wide
integer run_stats [0:15] [0:15] ; // array of 16-by-16 integer variables
• The vector size specifies the number of bits in each element of the vector, while the
range on the right of the variable specify the number of elements in each dimension
of the array
• Note one-dimensional reg variable array is called a memory

29
• An array cannot be assigned to another array using a single assignment statement.
Only an element of an array can be assigned. A bit-select or part-select of an
element of an array can also be accessed and assigned.

Ex:
smc_fifo[5] = 26; // 26 is assigned to 5th element of array
smc_fifo = req_stack; // not allowed: cannot assign a complete array

30
Difference between reg and wire:

reg wire
1. Is a variable type Is a wire type
Ex:integer, time Ex: wand, tri

2. Can only be assigned a Can be assigned using a

value in an always or an continuous assignment or via
initial statement the output(and inout) port of a
module instance

3. Upon initialization, a reg Wire has the z

variable has the value x

4. Strength is not assigned to A wire can be assigned a

a reg variable strength

31
Parameters:
• It is a constant
• It is often used to specify delays and width of variables
• It can be assigned a value only once, using a paramater declaration
• A parameter declaration is of the form:
parameter [ signed] [[ msb:lsb]] param1 = const_expt1;
Ex:
Parameter LINELENGTH = 32 // implied range of LINELENGTH is [ 31:0]
define WIDTH 16;
parameter [WIDTH-1:0] red = 0;

• A parameter value can also be changed at compile time. This is done using a defparam
statement or by specifying the parameter value in the module instantiation statement

• A parameter declaration can optionally specify a type ( integer, real, realtime or time), in
which case, no range specification or keyword “signed” is allowed
Ex:
parameter time trig_time = 10;
parameter integer count_limit = 25;
32
Difference between parameter and a define

parameter define
1. Is local to the module that Definition stays through
is declared in multiple files as they are
compiled

33
Local parameters:

• Is a parameter that is local to a module and which cannot be modified by a module

instantiation statement or by a defparam assignment
• Syntactically, a local parameter is declared exactly like a parameter declaration
except for the keyword “lacalparam”
lacalparam tc_idle = 2’b00;
localparam [ 3:0] incr_by = 12;

• If a local parameter is defined in terms of other non-local parameter, then the local
parameter gets indirectly modified when the parameter value changes due to an
external assignment
parameter BYTE = 0;
localparam NIBBLE = BYTE/2;
If parameter BYTE gets modified during compile time, so does the local parameter
NIBBLE

34
Expression

• An expression is formed using operands and operators . An expression can be used

wherever a value is expected

• An operand can be any of the following

I. Constant
II. Parameter
III. Net
IV. Variable
V. Bit-select
VI. Part-select
VII. Memory and array element
VIII.Function call

35
Constant:
• Are values that does not change during the execution of the program
Ex:
456, 6 // unsized decimal number
4’b10_11, 8’h0A // sized integer constant
‘b1, ‘hFBA // unsized integer constant
89.000005 // real constant
“ABCD” // string constant ; each character is stored as a 8-bit ASCII value

• An integer value in an expression is interpreted as either a signed or an unsigned

number.
Ex:
12 is 01100 in 5-bit vector form (signed)
-12 is 10100 in 5-bit vector form (signed)
5’b01100 is decimal 12 ( unsigned)
5’b10100 is decimal 20 ( unsigned)
4’d12 is decimal 12 ( unsigned)
8’shcf is 11001111 in 8-bit vector form ( signed)
36
Parameter:

• A parameter is a constant and is declared using declaration form as shown below:

parameter STORE = 4’d12;
localparam [ 7:0] LIMIT = 112;

Net:

• Both scalar net ( 1-bit) and vector nets ( multi-bit) can be used in an expression
Ex:
wire [ 0:3] a_port; // a_port is a 4-bit vector net
wire intr // intr is a scalar net
wire signed [ 3:0] jch; // 4-bit signed net
assign gpio_port = -3;
gpio_port has the bit-vector 1101 assigned which is in effect the decimal value 13
assign gpio_port = 4’hA;
gpio_port has the bit-vector 1010 assigned to it which is the decimal value 10

37
Variable:

• Scalar and vector variables can be used in an expression

Ex:
integer periph_id;
reg [ 1:5] mis_state;
reg signed [ 3:0] raw_count;
time t_que [1:5];

periph_id = -10 // periph_id has the bit vector 10110, which is the two’s
//compliment of 10
periph_id = ‘b1011 // periph_id has the decimal value 11

mis_state = -10; // mis_state has the bit-vector 10110, which is decimal

//22
mis_state = ‘b1011;// mis_state has the bit-vector 01011, which is the
//decimal value 11

38
Bit-select:

• A bit-select extracts a particular bit from a vector. It is of the form

net_or_reg_vector [ bit_select_expr]
Ex:

mis_state [1] && mis-state[4] // variable bit-select

gpio_port[0] | intr // net bit-select
LIMIT [5] // parameter bit-select

• If the select expression evaluates to an x or z or if it is out of bounds, the value of the bit-select is an x
Ex:

mis_select[ x] is an x

39
Part-select:

• In a part-select, a contiguous sequence of bits of a vector is selected

• There are two forms of part-select:
1) A constant part-select
2) An indexed part-select

• A constant part-select is of the form

net_or_reg_vector [ msb_const_expr : lsb_const_expr ];
Where the range expressions must be a constant expressions
Ex:
mis-state [ 1:4] // reg variable part-select
gpio_port[ 1:3] // net part-select
HIGH_BYTE_MASK[31:16]// parameter part-select

• The base expression (start index) can be a variable. However the width of the part –
select must be a constant
• If either the range index is out of bounds or evaluates to an x or a z, the part-select
value is an x
40
• An indexed part-select is of the form
net_or-reg_vector [ base_expr+: const_width_expr ]
net_or-reg_vector [ base_expr-: const_width_expr ]

Ex:
integer mark;
reg [ 0:15] inst_code;
wire [ 31:0] gpio_port;

inst_code [ mark+:2] // selects bits mark, mark+1

gpio_port [ mark-:4] // select bits mark, mark-1, mark-2, mark-3

inst_code [ 0+:8] // same as inst_code[0:7]

inst_code[ 15-: 4] // same as inst_code[12:15]

gpio_port[ 0+:8] // same as gpio_data[7:0]

41
Memory and array element:

• A memory element selects one word of a memory. It is of the form

memory [word_address]
Ex:
reg [ 1:8] hldc_ram [ 0:63], intr_ack;
………..
intr_ack = hldc_ram [ 60]; // 60th element of memory
• An array element selects one word of an array. It is of the form:
array [ word_address] {[ word_address]}
• Part-select or bit-select of a memory element or an array element is allowed
Ex:
hdlc_ram [ 60] [2] // value at index 2 of the 60th element
hdlc_ram [ 15] [2:4] // value at index range [2:4] of the 15 th element
hdlc_ram[ 0:2 ] // is not allowed

42
• Here is another memory declaration
reg [15:0] fill_pattern [ 0:63]; // memory of 64 words, each word of 16 bits

• To access the lower order of the word at address 10

reg [ 7:0] test_pattern;
test_pattern = fill_pattern [10] [7:0];

Examples of arrays:
reg [7:0] sense_data [15:0] [15:0];
integer three_d [255:0] [255:0] [255:0];
wire xbar [3:0] [3:0];

sense_data[2][3] // accesses the entire element

sense_data[1][1][0] // accesses the 0th index of the element at index[1][1]

three_d[5][5][2] // ok
three_d[2][1:2][0] // not ok; part-select of only an element is allowed

xbar[0][2:0] // not ok
43
Function call:

• A function call can be used in an expression. It can either be a system function call
(starts with $ character) or an user defined function call

$time + sum_of_events ( a,b)

/* $time is a system function and sum_of_events is an user-defined function
(defined elsewhere) */

Signedness:
• An operand is either signed or unsigned.
• If all operand in an expression are signed, then the result is signed, else the result is
unsigned
Ex:
8’d2 + 8’sb0101 // result is unsigned since 8’d2 is an unsigned number
4’sb0110 – 4’sd1 // result is signed since all operands are signed

44
Operators:

• Operators in verilog is classified into the following catagories:

I. Arithmetic operators
II. Relational operators
III. Equality operators
IV. Logical operators
V. Bitwise operators
VI. Reduction operators
VII. Shift operators
VIII.Conditional operators
IX. Concatenation and replication operators

45
The following table shows the precedence and names of all the operators

+ Unary plus
- Unary minus
! Unary logical negation
~ Unary bit-wise negation
& Reduction and
~& Reduction nand
^ Reduction xor
^~ or ~^ Reduction xnor
| Reduction or
~| Reduction nor
** Power(exponentiation)
* Multiply
/ Divide
% Modulus
+ Binary plus
- Binary minus
<<< Arithmetic left shift
>>> Arithmetic right shift
<< Logical left shift
>> Logical right shift
< Less than
<= Less than or equal to
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to

46
 == Logical equality
!= Logical inequality
=== Case equality
!== Case inequality
& Bitwise and
^ Bit-wise xor
^~ or ~^ Bit-wise xnor
| Bit-wise or
&& Logical and
|| Logical or
?: Conditional operator
{} Concatenation
{{}} replication

47
Arithmetic operator:

• + (unary and binary plus)

• - (unary and binary minus)
• * (multiply)
• / (divide)
• % (modulus)
• ** (power)
Ex of power operator:
parameter ADD_SIZE = 16;
localparam RAM_SIZE = 2**ADDR_SIZE-1;
• If any bit of an operand in an arithmetic operation is an x or a z, then entire result is
an x
Ex:
‘b10x1 + ‘b01111 is ‘bxxxxx

48
Result size:

• The size of the result of an arithmetic expression is determined by the size of the
largest operand.

• In case of assignment, it is determined by the size of the left-hand side target as

well
Ex:
reg [0:3] mask_intr, test_ctrl, raw_intr;
reg [0:5] intr_req;
…..
mask_intr = test_ctrl + raw_intr;// result is 4 bit sized
intr_req = test_ctrl, +raw_intr; // result is 6 bit sized

49
Unsigned and signed :
• When performing arithmetic operations and assignments, it is important to note
which operands are being treated as unsigned values and which are being treated as
signed value.

• An unsigned value is stored in

 A net
 A reg variable
 An integer in base format notation without signed qualifier(s)

• A signed value is stored in

 An integer variable
 An integer in base format notation with signed qualifier(s)
 An integer in decimal form
 A signed reg variable
 A signed net

50
Ex:
reg [0:5] burst_data;
integer mtx_addr;
burst_data = -4’d12 // reg burst_data has the decimal value 52, which is the
//vector 110100
Ex:
burst_data = -2 +(-4);
mtx_addr = -2 +(-4);
burst_data gets the decimal value 58 (bit-vector 111010), while mtx_addr gets the
decimal value -6 (bit-vector 111010)

• The two system functions $signed and $unsigned can be used to convert values to
signed or unsigned forms respectively
Ex:
$signed (4’b1101) // is a signed number, value of -3
$unsigned (4’shA) // is an unsigned number, value at 10

51
• To perform only a signed operation, convert the unsigned operand to a signed
operand using the $signed system function. When signed and unsigned operators
are mixed in an single expression
Ex:
$signed (‘d2) + 4’sb1001 is -5
$unsigned (5’sb11010 +5’sh1C) – 5’b01001 is 13

52
Relational operators:

The relational operators are

 > (greater than)
 < (less than)
 >= (greater than or equal to)
 <= (less than or equal to)

• The result of a relational operator is true (the value 1) or false (the value 0).
• Result is an x if any bit in either of the operand is an x or a z
Ex:
67 > 90 is false (value 0) while
52 < 16’hxFF is x
• If operands are not of same size and if any operand is unsigned, the smaller operand
is zero-filled on the most significant bit side (the left)
Ex:
‘b1000 >= ‘b01110
is equivalent to
‘b01000 >= ‘b01110 is false (value 0)
53
• If both operands are signed, then sign extension is performed on the smaller
operand
Ex:
4’sb1011 <= 8’sh1A
is equivalent to
8’sb11111011 <= 8’sb00011010 is true (value 1)

• If one of the operands in the expression is unsigned, the rest of the expression is
treated as unsigned as well
Ex:
( 4’sd9 * 4’d2) < 4 is false (18<4)
( 4’sd9 * 2) < 4 is true (-14 < 4)

54
Equality operators:

The equality operators are

 == ( logical equality)
 != (logical inequality)
 === (case equality)
 !== ( case inequality)

• The result is 0 if the comparison is false, else the result is a 1

• In logical comparison , if either operand contains an x or z, and the comparison is
ambiguous, the result is the unknown value (x)
Ex:
sw_data = ‘b11x0;
sw_addr = ‘b11x0;
Then
sw_data == sw_addr is unknown, that is , the value x,and
sw_data == sw_addr is true, that is, the value 1

55
Ex:
‘b010x != ‘b11x0 is true. Even though x is present in both the operands, the
result is not ambiguous- due to the difference in the first bit

• If the operands are of unequal lengths and if either operand is unsigned, the smaller
operand is zero-filled on the most significant side, that is , on the left
Ex:
2’b10 == 4’b0010
is same as
4’b0010 == 4’b0010 which is true (value 1)

56
Logical operators:
The logical operators are:
• && ( logical and)
• || ( logical or)
• ! ( unary logical negation)

These operators operate on logical values 0 and 1. the result of a logical operation is 0,
1 or x
Ex:

‘b1 || ‘bx is 1
‘b0 && ‘bz is 0
!x is x

57
Bit-wise operator:

• ~ (unary negation)
• & (binary and)
• | (binary or)
• ^ (binary exclusive-or)
• ~^ (binary exclusive-nor)
• ~(&) (binary nand)
• ~(|) ( binary nor)

These operators operate bit-by-bit, on corresponding bits of the input operands and
produce a vector result.

58
Reduction type:

• & (reduction AND)

• | (reduction or)
• ~ (negation)
• ~& (reduction NAND)
• ~ | (reduction NOR)
• ^ (reduction XOR)
• ~^ (reduction XNOR)

These operators operate on a single operand. The result is Boolean. The result is 0 or 1
depending on the individual bits if a single operand and reduces to single bit

Ex:
y = &x
If x = 1011
Then y = 1&0&1&1 = 0

59
Shift operators:

The shift operators are:

• << (logical left-shift)
• >> (logical right-shift)
• <<< (arithmetic left-shift)
• >>> (arithmetic right-shift)
• The shift operation shifts the left operand by the right operand number of times.
• The right operand is always considered as an unsigned number
• If the right operand evaluates to an x or z, the result of the shift operation is an x
• with the shift operators, the vacated bits are filled with 0’s
• With the arithmetic shift operators, left shift fills the vacated bits with 0’s, else it is filled with the
sign bits (most significant bit)
Ex:
reg [7:0] qreg;
reg signed [3:0] pmaster;
qreg = 8’h17;
pmaster = 4’sb1011;
then
qreg >>2 is 8’b00000101
qreg <<2 is 8’b01011100
qreg <<< 4 is 8’b01110000
pmaster >>> 2 is 4’sb1110 sign bit used
60
Conditional operator

• The conditional operator selects an expression based on the value of the condition
expression and it is of the form:
cond_expr ? expr1 : expr2

• If the cond_expr is true , expr1 is selected. If the cond_expr is false, expr2 is

selected. If cond_expr is an x or z, the result is a bit-wise operation on expr1 and
expr2 with the logic 0 with 0 gives 0, 1 with 1 gives 1, rest are x

Ex:
wire [0:2] student = marks > 18 ? Grade_a : grade_b ;

61
Concatenation and replication:

• Concatenation is the operation of joining bits from smaller expressions to form

larger expressions. It is of the form:
{ expr1, expr2,……, expr n}
Ex:
wire [7:0] dbus;
wire [11:0] abus;

assign dbus [7:4] = { dbus[0], dbus[1], dbus[2], dbus[3]};

// assign lower four bits in reverse order to upper four bits

assign dbus = { dbus[3:0], dbus[7:4]};

// swap lower and upper four bits

62
• Replication is performed by specifying a repetition number. It is of the form:
{ repetition_number { expr1, expr2,….., expr n}}

Ex:
abus = {3{4’b1010}}; is same as 101010101010

• The replication operation can be parameterized as shown

parameter LENGTH = 8;
{LENGTH{1’b1}} is a string of 8 1’s

63
Kinds of expressions:

• A constant expression is an expression that evaluates to a constant value at compile

time. It can be made up of :
• Constant literals, such as 870
• Parameter names, such as SIZE
• Bit-select and part-select of a parameter
• Constant function calls

• A scalar expression is an expression that evaluates to a 1- bit result. If a scalar

result is expected but the expression produces a vector result, a non-zero vector is
treated as 1

64
The steps in evaluating an expression are:

• Determine expression size- it is the size of the largest operand typically

• Determine its signedness. If any operand in the expression is unsigned, then the
expression is unsigned, if all the operands in the expression are signed, then the
expression is signed. The type of left hand side (target) does not determine its
signedness

• All operands are coerced to its signedness

• Size of each operand is extended to the size of the expression, sign extension for
signed operands and zero extension for unsigned operands

• Evaluate the expression

65
Gate – level modeling

Built – in primitive gates :

• Multiple – input gates:

and, nand, or, nor, xor, xnor
• Multiple – output gates:
buf, not
• Tristate gates:
bufif0, bufif1, notif1, notif0
• Pull gates
pullup, pulldown
• MOS switches
cmos, nmos, pmos, rcmos, rnmos, rpmos
• Bidirectional switches
tran, tranif0, tranif1, rtran, rtranif0, rtranif1

66
• A gate can be used in a design using a gate instantiation. It is in the format

gate_type [ instance_name] ( term1, term2,……., term n);

• Multiple instances of the same type can be specified in one construct. The syntax
is:
gate_type
[ instance_name] ( term11, term12,……, term1n),
[ instance_name] ( term21, term22,……, term2n),
……………….
[ instance_name] ( termM1, termM2,……, termMn);

67
Multiple – input gates:

• The multiple – input built – in gates are

and nandnor or xor xnor

• These logic gates have only one output and one or more inputs. The syntax is:

multiple_input_gate_type [ instance name] ( outputA, input1, input2,…, inputN);

the first terminal is output and all others are inputs

Ex:
and a1( out1, in1, in2);

68
Tristate gates:

• The tristate gates are:

bufif0 bufif1 notif0 notif1

• These gates model three state drivers. These gates have one output, one data input
and one control input. The syntax is:

tristate_gate [instance name] ( outputA, inputB, control C);

• Depending on the control input, the output can be driven to high impedance state,
that is, to value z
• For a bufif0 gate, the output is z if control is 1, else data is transferred to output
• For a bufif1 gate, the output is z if control is 0, else data is transferred to output
• For a notif0 gate, the output is z if control is 1, else output is invert of data input
• For a notif1 gate, the output is z if control is 0, else output is invert of data input
Ex:
bufif1 a1( dbus, mem_data, strobe);

69
Bufif/notif

70
Pull gates:

• The pull gates are:

pullup pulldown

• These gates have only one output with no inputs

• A pullup gate places a 1 on its output
• A pulldown gate places a 0 on its output
• The syntax is:
pull_gate [instance name] (output A);

Ex:

Pullup a1 ( data);

71
MOS switches:

The MOS switches are

cmos pmos nmos rcmos rpmos rnmos

• These gates model unidirectional switches, that is , data flows from input to output
and the dataflow can be turned off by appropriately setting the control input

• The pmos, nmos, rnmos and rpmos switches have one output, one input and one
control input. The basic syntax is:
gate_type [instance_name] (output A, input B, control C);

• If control is 0 for nmos and rnmos switches and 1 for pmos and rpmos switches, the
switch is turned off, that is, output has value z

• If control is 1 for nmos and rnmos swiches and 0 for pmos and rpmos switches,
data at the input passes to output

72
Bidirectional switches:

The bidirectional switches are:

tran rtran tranif0 rtranif0 tranif1 rtranif1

• These switches are bidirectional, that is, data flows both ways and there is no delay
when data propagates through the switches

• The last four switches can be turned off by setting a control signal appropriately.
The tran and rtran switches cannot be turned off

• The syntax for tran and rtran is:

rtran [instance_name] (signal A, signal B);
the terminal list has only two terminals and data flows unconditionally both ways,
that is, from signal A to signal B and vice versa

• The syntax for instantiating the other bidirectional switches is:

gate_type [instance_name] (signal A, signal B, control C);

73
Gate delays:

• The signal propagation delay from any gate input to the gate output can be
specified using a gate delay

• The syntax is:

gate_type [ delay] [instance_name] (terminal list);

74
Array of instances:

• When repetitive instances are required, a range specification can optionally be specified in a
gate instantiation

• The syntax of gate instantiation in this case is:

gate_type [delay] instance_name [leftbound : rightboumd] (list_of_terminal_name);

• The leftbnound and rightbound values are any two constant expressions.
Ex:
wire [3:0] a,b,c;
……..
nand a0 [3:0] ( a,b,c);

The instantiation with the range specification is same as:

nand
a03 (a[3], b[3], c[3]);
a02 (a[2], b[2], c[2]);
a01 (a[1], b[1], c[1]);
a00 (a[0], b[0], c[0]);

75
Implicit nets:

• If a net is not declared in verilog model, by default, it is implicitly declared as a 1-

bit wire.

• However the default_nettype compiler directive can be used to override the default
nettype.

• The compiler directive is of the form

default_nettype net_type
Ex:
default_nettype wand
• The default_nettype compiler directive occurs outside of a module definition and
stays in effect until the next same directive is reached or ‘resetall’ diective is found

• The implicit net inference can be disabled by using a value of none for the
default_nettype compiler directive. In such a case, any undeclared net is an error

76
Dataflow modeling:
• Continuous assignment
a continuous assignment assigns a value to a net (or variable). It has the
following form
assign LHS_target = RHS_expression;

• The target in a continuous assignment can be one of the following

1) Scalar net
2) Vector net
3) Constant element-select of an array(which is a scalar net or a vector net)
4) Constant bit-select of a vector
5) Constant part-select of a vector
6) Concatenation of any of the above

77
Delays
• If no delay is specified in a continuous assignment, the assignment of the RHS
expression to the left hand side target occurs with zero delay
• A delay can be explicitly specified in a continuous assignment as shown in the
following example
assign #6 sum = a+b;
• The delay specified, #6, is the delay between the right hand side and the right hand
side.
• For each delay specification, up to three delay values can be specified
1) Rise delay
2) Fall delay
3) Turn-off delay
The syntax for specifying the three delays:
assign #(rise, fall, turn-off) LHS_target = RHS_expression;

78
Behavioral modeling:
• the primary mechanism for modeling the behavior of a design are the following two
statements
1. Initial statement
2. Always statement
Initial statement: it executes only once. It begins its execution at start of simulation
which is at time 0. the syntax for initial statement is
initial
[timing_control] procedural_statement
Where a procedural statement is one of:
Procedural_assignment (blocking or nonblocking)
Procedural_continuous_assignment
Conditional_assignment
Case_statement
Loop_statement

79
Wait_statement
Disable_statement
Event_trigger
Sequential_block
Parallel_block
Task_enable (user or system)
• The sequential block (begin…….end) is the most commonly used procedural
statement
Always statement:
• In contrast to the initial statement, an always statement executes repeatedly. Just
like the initial statement, an always statement also begins execution at time 0. the
syntax for an always statement is:
always
[timing_control] procedural_statement

80
Example:

81
82
83
Dataflow modeling

Continuous assignment:

• It assigns value to a net

• It cannot be used to assign the value to a variable

assign abc = expression;

• The target in a continuous assignment can be one of the following

a) Scalar net
b) Vector net
c) Constant element-select of an array
d) Constant bit-select of a vector
e) Constant part-select of a vector
f) Concatenation of any of above

84
Note:
Structure of verilog module
• It has a declaration of single unit declaration called module
• The verilog module has a declaration and a body
• In the declaration name, inputs, outputs of the module are listed
• The body shows the relationship between inputs and outputs
• The order of declarations of inputs and outputs is irrelevant
• More than one input or output could be written o the same line by using comma to separate
each input or output

The syntax of verilog module is here with an example of half-adder

Module halfadder ( a,b,sum,carry);

input a,b;
output sum, carry;
// blank lines are allowed.
assign sum = a^b;
assign carry = a&b;
endmodule

85
List and describe verilog ports:

Verilog port can be one of the following three modes

• input: the port is only an input port. In any assignment statement, the port should
appear only on RHS of it

• output: the port is an output port. The port can appear on either side of any
assignment statement

• inout: the port can be used as both an input and output. The inout port represents a
bidirectional bus

86
List and describe briefly the different styles of descriptions used in verilog

The style of descriptions used in verilog are as follows

• Behavioral description
• Data flow description
• Structural description
• Switch-level description
• Mixed-style description

 Behavioral description: it is one where the verilog module uses always and initial
construct
 Data flow description: the description generally involve boolean expression for
outputs in terms of inputs
 Structural description: verilog modules is designed using gates
 Switch-level description: it is the lowest level of descriptions. The system is
described using switches and transistors. The verilog keywords nmos, cmos, pmos,
tranif0, tran describe the system.
 Mixed-style description: it uses more than one style of previously mentioned
descriptions within a module.
87
compare VHDL and Verilog

Sl. No. VHDL Verilog

1. It is best at system level It is best at gate level
2. Many data types including user Has limited number of data types.
defined, arrays (multi-dimensional) There are no user defined supports,
physical single dimensional arrays, no
physical type
3. It seems hard to learn for beginners. Easy to learn.
4. Short of certain relational operators. Short of certain shift and rotate
operators.
5. Libraries and packages can be defined There is no concept of libraries and
and attached to the code. packages
6. Procedures are used to break-down the Tasks are used to break-down the
design. design
7. Concurrent procedure calls are allowed Concurrent task calls are allowed,
and also functions can be written inside functions cannot be written, inside
the procedures. the tasks body.

88
Describe briefly the steps involved in simulation and synthesis.

The following are the steps involved in simulation and synthesis

• Choose the preferred language to describe the system. The language may verilog,
VHDL or mix language
• Choose the style or type of description
• Write the code depending on the style of description chosen
• Compile the code using the computer supplied by the HDL package. If any errors
found correct them and recompile until the code is error free
• Test or simulate the design with known inputs.
• After the simulation verified, the signal behavior is as expected, the compiled code
can be synthesized. The simulator package usually has a synthesizer. The
synthesizer converts the compiled code into a schematic and a net_list
• The net_list can be down loaded onto a chip, uasually FPGA

89
Describe the logical operators in verlog

• The verilog logical operators are classified as bitwise, boolean logical and
reduction
bitwise operators: they operate on corresponding bits of two operands. The list of
bitwise operators and their meaning is shown below:
Sl. No. operation Symbol Operand type result
1. AND & Bit Bit
2. OR | Bit Bit
3. NOT ~ Bit Bit
4. NAND ~(&) Bit Bit
5. NOR ~(|) Bit Bit
6. Ex-OR ^ Bit Bit
7. EX-NOR ~^ Bit bit

Boolean logical operators: operates on two operand, the result is boolean 0(false) or
1(true). The list is shown below:
Sl.no. Operation Symbol No. of operands
1. AND && Two
2. OR || Two
90
Reduction operator:
• The operators operate on a single operand. The result is boolean. The result is 0 or
1 depending on the operation on the individual bits of single operand and reduces
to a single bit. The list is shown below:

Sl.no. Operator Operation No. of operands

1. & Reduction AND One

2. | Reduction OR One

3. ~ Negation One

4. ~& Reduction NAND One

5. ~| Reduction OR One

6. ^ Reduction EX-OR One

7. ~^ Reduction EX-NOR one

91
Explain how signal is declared and assigned in verilog?

• In verilog, the input and output parameters of module are implicitly signals. The
explicit signal declaration is done using keyword as shown below.

wire s1, s2;

the module parameters are as follow
module my_mod (i1, o1);
input i1;
output o1;
……..
endmodule
• A signal assignment in HDL is used to assign a value to a signal. The left hand side
of the statement should be a signal. The right hand side may be a signal, a variable
or a constant

• The assignment is
assign o1 = i1 & i2;

92
Explain the structure of the HDL behavior mode; in verilog

• The behavioral description is a powerful tool to describe system for which the digital logic
structure (boolean expression)are not known or hard to generate
• In this description design is described interms of sequential statements rather than boolean
expressions
• Initial or always statement is used as sequential statement
• The signal assignments describe the output behavior for the input signals change
• The signal assignments are placed inside the process statement and are called sequential signal
assignments
// verilog behavioral description for halfadder

Module half_add (a,b,s,c);

input a,b;
output s,c;
reg s, c;
always@(a,b)
begin
s = a^b;
s = a&b;
end
endmodule
93
1. Write data-flow description of half adder in verilog code
2. Write a verilog code for 2 X 1 multiplexer with active low enable using
data flow model
3. Write a verilog code for D_latch

94