Overview of Arbitrary Precision Integer Data Types - 2021.1 English

Vitis HLS provides integer and fixed-point arbitrary precision data types for C++.

The header files which define the arbitrary precision types are also provided with Vitis HLS as a standalone package with the rights to use them in your own source code. The package, xilinx_hls_lib_<release_number>.tgz is provided in the include directory in the Vitis HLS installation area. The package does not include the C arbitrary precision types defined in ap_cint.h. These types cannot be used with standard C compilers.

For the C++ language ap_[u]int data types the header file ap_int.h defines the arbitrary precision integer data type. To use arbitrary precision integer data types in a C++ function:

• Add header file ap_int.h to the source code.
• Change the bit types to ap_int<N> or ap_uint<N>, where N is a bit-size from 1 to 1024.

The following example shows how the header file is added and two variables implemented to use 9-bit integer and 10-bit unsigned integer types:

#include "ap_int.h"

void foo_top (…) {

ap_int<9>  var1;           // 9-bit
ap_uint<10>  var2;           // 10-bit unsigned

The default maximum width allowed for ap_[u]int data types is 1024 bits. This default may be overridden by defining the macro AP_INT_MAX_W with a positive integer value less than or equal to 32768 before inclusion of the ap_int.h header file.

The following is an example of overriding AP_INT_MAX_W:

#define AP_INT_MAX_W 4096 // Must be defined before next line
#include "ap_int.h"

ap_int<4096> very_wide_var;