How to declare and use 1D and 2D byte arrays in Verilog?

Question

How to declare and use 1D and 2D byte arrays in Verilog?

eg. how to do something like

byte a_2D[3][3];
byte a_1D[3];

// using 1D
for (int i=0; i< 3; i++)
{
    a_1D[i] = (byte)i;
}

// using 2D
for (int i=0; i< 3; i++)
{
    for (int j=0; j< 3; j++)
    {
        a_2D[i][j] = (byte)i*j;
    }
}

Answer 1

Verilog thinks in bits, so reg [7:0] a[0:3] will give you a 4x8 bit array (=4x1 byte array). You get the first byte out of this with a[0]. The third bit of the 2nd byte is a[1][2].

For a 2D array of bytes, first check your simulator/compiler. Older versions (pre '01, I believe) won't support this. Then reg [7:0] a [0:3] [0:3] will give you a 2D array of bytes. A single bit can be accessed with a[2][0][7] for example.

reg [7:0] a [0:3];
reg [7:0] b [0:3] [0:3];

reg [7:0] c;
reg d;

initial begin

   for (int i=0; i<=3; i++) begin
      a[i] = i[7:0];
   end

   c = a[0];
   d = a[1][2]; 


   // using 2D
   for (int i=0; i<=3; i++)
      for (int j=0; j<=3; j++)
          b[i][j] = i*j;  // watch this if you're building hardware

end