SystemVerilog also has many other 2-state data types in addition to all the data types supported by Verilog. Most commonly used data types in modern testbenches are bit, int, logic and byte.
Integer
Integers are numbers without a fractional part or in other words, they are whole numbers. SystemVerilog has three new signed data types to hold integer values each with a different size. The smallest is shortint which can range from -32768 to 32767, and the largest is longint. The sign can be explicitly defined using the keywords signed and unsigned. Also they can be converted into one another by casting.
// ubyte is converted to signed type and assigned to si
si = signed' (ubyte);
Signed
By default, integer variables are signed in nature and hence can hold both positive and negative values.
module tb;
// By default int data types are signed which means
// that MSB is the sign bit and the integer variables can
// also store negative numbers
shortint var_a;
int var_b;
longint var_c;
initial begin
// Print initial values of the integer variables
$display ("Sizes var_a=%0d var_b=%0d var_c=%0d", $bits(var_a), $bits(var_b), $bits(var_c));
// Assign the maximum value for each of the variables
// MSB of each variable represents the sign bit and is set to 0
// Rest of the bit positions are filled with 1 and hence you
// get the maximum value that these variables can hold
#1 var_a = 'h7FFF;
var_b = 'h7FFF_FFFF;
var_c = 'h7FFF_FFFF_FFFF_FFFF;
// When added a 1, the sign changes to negative because this is a signed variable
#1 var_a += 1; // Value becomes 'h8000 => which is a rollover from + sign to - sign
var_b += 1; // Value becomes 'h8000_0000 => which is a rollover from + sign to - sign
var_c += 1;
end
// Start a monitor to print out values of each variables as they change
initial
$monitor ("var_a=%0d var_b=%0d var_c=%0d", var_a, var_b, var_c);
endmodule
The $bits system task returns the number of bits in a variable. Note that var_a, var_b and var_c roll over to the negative side.
Sizes var_a=16 var_b=32 var_c=64 var_a=0 var_b=0 var_c=0 var_a=32767 var_b=2147483647 var_c=9223372036854775807 var_a=-32768 var_b=-2147483648 var_c=-9223372036854775808
Unsigned
We'll change variables declared in the example above to be of unsigned type and see how the results look like.
module tb;
// In this case, we are going to make it unsigned which means
// that MSB no longer holds the sign information and hence these
// variables can only store positive values
shortint unsigned var_a;
int unsigned var_b;
longint unsigned var_c;
initial begin
// Print initial values of the integer variables
$display ("Sizes var_a=%0d var_b=%0d var_c=%0d", $bits(var_a), $bits(var_b), $bits(var_c));
// Assign the maximum value for each of the variables
#1 var_a = 'hFFFF;
var_b = 'hFFFF_FFFF;
var_c = 'hFFFF_FFFF_FFFF_FFFF;
// When added a 1, value rolls over to 0
#1 var_a += 1; // Value becomes 'h0
var_b += 1; // Value becomes 'h0
var_c += 1;
end
// Start a monitor to print out values of each variables as they change
initial
$monitor ("var_a=%0d var_b=%0d var_c=%0d", var_a, var_b, var_c);
endmodule
Simulation Log Sizes var_a=16 var_b=32 var_c=64 var_a=0 var_b=0 var_c=0 var_a=65535 var_b=4294967295 var_c=18446744073709551615 var_a=0 var_b=0 var_c=0
byte
A byte is an even shorter version of an integer with a size of 8 bits. By default byte is a signed variable and has the same properties as an integer described in the previous section
module tb;
byte s_byte; // By default byte is signed
byte unsigned u_byte; // Byte is set to unsigned
initial begin
$display ("Size s_byte=%0d, u_byte=%0d", $bits(s_byte), $bits(u_byte));
// Assign the "assumed" maximum value to both variables
#1 s_byte = 'h7F;
u_byte = 'h7F;
// Increment by 1, and see that s_byte rolled over to negative because
// byte is signed by default. u_byte keeps increasing because it is
// unsigned and can go upto 255
#1 s_byte += 1;
u_byte += 1;
// Assign 255 (8'hFF) to u_byte -> this is the max value it can hold
#1 u_byte = 'hFF;
// Add 1 and see that it rolls over to 0
#1 u_byte += 1;
end
initial begin
$monitor ("[%0t ns] s_byte=%0d u_byte=%0d", $time, s_byte, u_byte);
end
endmodule
Simulation Log ncsim> run Size s_byte=8, u_byte=8 [0 ns] s_byte=0 u_byte=0 [1 ns] s_byte=127 u_byte=127 [2 ns] s_byte=-128 u_byte=128 [3 ns] s_byte=-128 u_byte=255 [4 ns] s_byte=-128 u_byte=0 ncsim: *W,RNQUIE: Simulation is complete.