The inside keyword in SystemVerilog allows to check if a given value lies within the range specified using the inside phrase. This can also be used inside if and other conditional statements in addition to being used as a constraint.
Syntax
<variable> inside {<values or range>}
// Inverted "inside"
!(<variable> inside {<values or range>})
For example,
m_var inside {4, 7, 9} // Check if m_var is either 4,7 or 9
m_var inside {[10:100]} // Check if m_var is between 10 and 100 inclusive
When used in conditional statements
In the following example, inside operator is used both in an if else statement and a ternary operator. flag gets the value 1 if the randomized value of m_data lies within 4 to 9, including 4 and 9. If not, flag gets 0.
Similarly, if else block uses the same operator and prints a display message.
module tb;
bit [3:0] m_data;
bit flag;
initial begin
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) begin
m_data = $random;
// Used in a ternary operator
flag = m_data inside {[4:9]} ? 1 : 0;
// Used with "if-else" operators
if (m_data inside {[4:9]})
$display ("m_data=%0d INSIDE [4:9], flag=%0d", m_data, flag);
else
$display ("m_data=%0d outside [4:9], flag=%0d", m_data, flag);
end
end
endmodule
ncsim> run m_data=4 INSIDE [4:9], flag=1 m_data=1 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=9 INSIDE [4:9], flag=1 m_data=3 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=13 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=13 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=5 INSIDE [4:9], flag=1 m_data=2 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=1 outside [4:9], flag=0 m_data=13 outside [4:9], flag=0 ncsim: *W,RNQUIE: Simulation is complete.
Used in constraints
The inside operator is quite useful in constraints and makes code shorter and more readable.
class ABC;
rand bit [3:0] m_var;
// Constrain m_var to be either 3,4,5,6 or 7
constraint c_var { m_var inside {[3:7]}; }
endclass
module tb;
initial begin
ABC abc = new();
repeat (5) begin
abc.randomize();
$display("abc.m_var = %0d", abc.m_var);
end
end
endmodule
See that all values of m_var lies inside the given range.
ncsim> run abc.m_var = 7 abc.m_var = 6 abc.m_var = 6 abc.m_var = 3 abc.m_var = 4 ncsim: *W,RNQUIE: Simulation is complete.
Inverted inside
The opposite of what the inside operator does can be achieved by placing a not symbol ! before it. This is applicable for both constraints and conditional statements. The following example is the same as we saw before except that its constraint has been tweaked to reflect an inverted inside statement.
class ABC;
rand bit [3:0] m_var;
// Inverted inside: Constrain m_var to be outside 3 to 7
constraint c_var { !(m_var inside {[3:7]}); }
endclass
module tb;
initial begin
ABC abc = new();
repeat (5) begin
abc.randomize();
$display("abc.m_var = %0d", abc.m_var);
end
end
endmodule
See that all values of m_var lies inside the given range.
ncsim> run abc.m_var = 1 abc.m_var = 12 abc.m_var = 0 abc.m_var = 14 abc.m_var = 10 ncsim: *W,RNQUIE: Simulation is complete.
Practical Example
Say we have a memory located between the address range 0x4000 and 0x5FFF, which is partitioned into two. The first part is used to store instructions and the second part to store data. Say we want to randomize the address for data such that the address falls within the data part of memory, we can easily use the inside operator.
class Data;
rand bit [15:0] m_addr;
constraint c_addr { m_addr inside {[16'h4000:16'h4fff]}; }
endclass
module tb;
initial begin
Data data = new();
repeat (5) begin
data.randomize();
$display ("addr = 0x%0h", data.m_addr);
end
end
endmodule
ncsim> run addr = 0x48ef addr = 0x463f addr = 0x4612 addr = 0x4249 addr = 0x4cee ncsim: *W,RNQUIE: Simulation is complete.
