Every expression has a result with a specified bit length. Therefore operand lengths should be checked before the expression is calculated to prevent the loss of important bits. This problem occurs when the result of an expression is assigned to a variable that cannot store all the result bits.

Expression

Bit length

Unsized constant number

Same as integer

Sized constant number

As given

i op j,

op: + - / % & | ^ ^~ ~^

Max(length of i, length of j)

i * j

Length of i + length of j

op i,

op: + - ~

Length of i

i op j,

op: == != === !== && || > >= < <=

1 bit

op i,

op: & ~& | ~| ^ ~^ ^~

1 bit

i op j,

op: >> <<

Length of i

i ? j : k

Max(length of j, length of k)

{i,j}

Length of i + length of j

{i{j,k}}

i * (length of j + length of k)

Table 2 Expression bit length rules

Examples

Example 1

reg [3:0] a;
reg [7:0] b;
reg [15:0] c;
a + b -> 8 bits
a * b -> 12 bits
a || b -> 1 bit
a >> 2 -> 4 bits
(c) ? a : b -> 8 bits
{i,j} -> 12 bits
{2(a,b}} -> 24 bits

Important Notes

The expression result bit-length should be known before the assignment to prevent unintended data loss.