CIRCT

Circuit IR Compilers and Tools

'hw' Dialect

This dialect defines the hw dialect, which is intended to be a generic representation of HW outside of a particular use-case.

Operation Definitions – Structure

hw.generator.schema (::circt::hw::HWGeneratorSchemaOp)

HW Generator Schema declaration

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.generator.schema` $sym_name `,` $descriptor `,` $requiredAttrs attr-dict

The “hw.generator.schema” operation declares a kind of generated module by declaring the schema of meta-data required. A generated module instance of a schema is independent of the external method of producing it. It is assumed that for well known schema instances, multiple external tools might exist which can process it. Generator nodes list attributes required by hw.module.generated instances.

For example: generator.schema @MEMORY, “Simple-Memory”, [“ports”, “write_latency”, “read_latency”] module.generated @mymem, @MEMORY(ports) -> (ports) {write_latency=1, read_latency=1, ports=[“read”,“write”]}

Traits: HasParent<mlir::ModuleOp>

Interfaces: Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
descriptor::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
requiredAttrs::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute

hw.module.extern (::circt::hw::HWModuleExternOp)

HW external Module

The “hw.module.extern” operation represents an external reference to a Verilog module, including a given name and a list of ports.

The ‘verilogName’ attribute (when present) specifies the spelling of the module name in Verilog we can use. TODO: This is a hack because we don’t have proper parameterization in the hw.dialect. We need a way to represent parameterized types instead of just concrete types.

Traits: HasParent<mlir::ModuleOp>, InnerSymbolTable

Interfaces: HWModuleLike, HWMutableModuleLike, InstanceGraphModuleOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface, PortList, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
module_type::mlir::TypeAttrtype attribute of a module
per_port_attrs::mlir::ArrayAttrArray of dictionary attributes
port_locs::mlir::ArrayAttrlocation array attribute
parameters::mlir::ArrayAttrparameter array attribute
verilogName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

hw.module.generated (::circt::hw::HWModuleGeneratedOp)

HW Generated Module

The “hw.module.generated” operation represents a reference to an external module that will be produced by some external process. This represents the name and list of ports to be generated.

The ‘verilogName’ attribute (when present) specifies the spelling of the module name in Verilog we can use. See hw.module for an explanation.

Traits: HasParent<mlir::ModuleOp>, InnerSymbolTable, IsolatedFromAbove

Interfaces: HWModuleLike, HWMutableModuleLike, InstanceGraphModuleOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface, PortList, SymbolUserOpInterface, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
generatorKind::mlir::FlatSymbolRefAttrflat symbol reference attribute
module_type::mlir::TypeAttrtype attribute of a module
per_port_attrs::mlir::ArrayAttrArray of dictionary attributes
port_locs::mlir::ArrayAttrlocation array attribute
parameters::mlir::ArrayAttrparameter array attribute
verilogName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

hw.module (::circt::hw::HWModuleOp)

HW Module

The “hw.module” operation represents a Verilog module, including a given name, a list of ports, a list of parameters, and a body that represents the connections within the module.

Traits: HasParent<mlir::ModuleOp>, InnerSymbolTable, IsolatedFromAbove, SingleBlockImplicitTerminator<OutputOp>, SingleBlock

Interfaces: Emittable, HWEmittableModuleLike, HWModuleLike, HWMutableModuleLike, InstanceGraphModuleOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface, PortList, RegionKindInterface, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
module_type::mlir::TypeAttrtype attribute of a module
per_port_attrs::mlir::ArrayAttrArray of dictionary attributes
result_locs::mlir::ArrayAttrlocation array attribute
parameters::mlir::ArrayAttrparameter array attribute
comment::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

hw.hierpath (::circt::hw::HierPathOp)

Hierarchical path specification

The “hw.hierpath” operation represents a path through the hierarchy. This is used to specify namable things for use in other operations, for example in verbatim substitution. Non-local annotations also use these.

Traits: IsolatedFromAbove

Interfaces: InnerRefUserOpInterface, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
namepath::mlir::ArrayAttrname reference array attribute

hw.instance_choice (::circt::hw::InstanceChoiceOp)

Represents an instance with a target-specific reference

This represents an instance to a module which is determined based on the target through the ABI. Besides a default implementation, other targets can be associated with a string, which will later determined which reference is chosen.

For the purposes of analyses and transformations, it is assumed that any of the targets is a possibility.

Example:

%b = hw.instance_choice "inst" sym
    @TargetDefault or
    @TargetA if "A" or
    @TargetB if "B"
    (a: %a: i32) -> (b: i32)

Interfaces: HWInstanceLike, InnerSymbolOpInterface, InstanceGraphInstanceOpInterface, InstanceOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface, PortList, SymbolUserOpInterface

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
instanceName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
moduleNames::mlir::ArrayAttrflat symbol ref array attribute
optionName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
caseNames::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute
argNames::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute
resultNames::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute
parameters::mlir::ArrayAttrparameter array attribute
inner_sym::circt::hw::InnerSymAttrInner symbol definition
doNotPrint::mlir::UnitAttrunit attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputsvariadic of any type

Results:

ResultDescription
resultsvariadic of any type

hw.instance (::circt::hw::InstanceOp)

Create an instance of a module

This represents an instance of a module. The inputs and outputs are the referenced module’s inputs and outputs. The argNames and resultNames attributes must match the referenced module.

Any parameters in the “old” format (slated to be removed) are stored in the oldParameters dictionary.

Interfaces: HWInstanceLike, InnerSymbolOpInterface, InstanceGraphInstanceOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface, PortList, SymbolUserOpInterface

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
instanceName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
moduleName::mlir::FlatSymbolRefAttrflat symbol reference attribute
argNames::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute
resultNames::mlir::ArrayAttrstring array attribute
parameters::mlir::ArrayAttrparameter array attribute
inner_sym::circt::hw::InnerSymAttrInner symbol definition
doNotPrint::mlir::UnitAttrunit attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputsvariadic of any type

Results:

ResultDescription
resultsvariadic of any type

hw.output (::circt::hw::OutputOp)

HW termination operation

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.output` attr-dict ($outputs^ `:` qualified(type($outputs)))?

“hw.output” marks the end of a region in the HW dialect and the values to put on the output ports.

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, HasParent<HWModuleOp>, ReturnLike, Terminator

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface), RegionBranchTerminatorOpInterface

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
outputsvariadic of any type

hw.triggered (::circt::hw::TriggeredOp)

A procedural region with a trigger condition

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.triggered` $event $trigger  (`(` $inputs^ `)` `:` type($inputs))? $body attr-dict

A procedural region that can be triggered by an event. The trigger condition is a 1-bit value that is activated based on some event control attribute. The operation is IsolatedFromAbove, and thus requires values passed into the trigger region to be explicitly passed in through the inputs list.

Traits: IsolatedFromAbove, NoTerminator, SingleBlock

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
eventcirct::hw::EventControlAttredge control trigger

Operands:

OperandDescription
trigger1-bit signless integer
inputsvariadic of any type

Operation Definitions – Miscellaneous

hw.bitcast (::circt::hw::BitcastOp)

Reinterpret one value to another value of the same size and potentially different type. See the hw dialect rationale document for more details.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.bitcast` $input attr-dict `:` functional-type($input, $result)

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputType wherein the bitwidth in hardware is known

Results:

ResultDescription
resultType wherein the bitwidth in hardware is known

hw.constant (::circt::hw::ConstantOp)

Produce a constant value

The constant operation produces a constant value of standard integer type without a sign.

  %result = hw.constant 42 : t1

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, ConstantLike, FirstAttrDerivedResultType

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface), OpAsmOpInterface

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
value::mlir::IntegerAttrarbitrary integer attribute

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta signless integer bitvector

hw.enum.cmp (::circt::hw::EnumCmpOp)

Compare two values of an enumeration

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.enum.cmp` $lhs `,` $rhs attr-dict `:` qualified(type($lhs)) `,` qualified(type($rhs))

This operation compares two values with the same canonical enumeration type, returning 0 if they are different, and 1 if they are the same.

Example:

  %enumcmp = hw.enum.cmp %A, %B : !hw.enum<A, B, C>, !hw.enum<A, B, C>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, InferTypeOpInterface, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
lhsa EnumType
rhsa EnumType

Results:

ResultDescription
result1-bit signless integer

hw.enum.constant (::circt::hw::EnumConstantOp)

Produce a constant enumeration value.

The enum.constant operation produces an enumeration value of the specified enum value attribute.

  %0 = hw.enum.constant A : !hw.enum<A, B, C>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, ConstantLike

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface), OpAsmOpInterface

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
field::circt::hw::EnumFieldAttrEnumeration field attribute

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta EnumType

hw.param.value (::circt::hw::ParamValueOp)

Return the value of a parameter expression as an SSA value that may be used by other ops.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.param.value` custom<ParamValue>($value, qualified(type($result))) attr-dict

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, ConstantLike, FirstAttrDerivedResultType

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
value::mlir::Attributeany attribute

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta known primitive element

hw.wire (::circt::hw::WireOp)

Assign a name or symbol to an SSA edge

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.wire` $input (`sym` $inner_sym^)? custom<ImplicitSSAName>($name) attr-dict
              `:` qualified(type($input))

An hw.wire is used to assign a human-readable name or a symbol for remote references to an SSA edge. It takes a single operand and returns its value unchanged as a result. The operation guarantees the following:

  • If the wire has a symbol, the value of its operand remains observable under that symbol within the IR.

  • If the wire has a name, the name is treated as a hint. If the wire persists until code generation the resulting wire will have this name, with a potential suffix to ensure uniqueness. If the wire is canonicalized away, its name is propagated to its input operand as a name hint.

  • The users of its result will always observe the operand through the operation itself, meaning that optimizations cannot bypass the wire. This ensures that if the wire’s value is forced, for example through a Verilog force statement, the forced value will affect all users of the wire in the output.

Example:

%1 = hw.wire %0 : i42
%2 = hw.wire %0 sym @mySym : i42
%3 = hw.wire %0 name "myWire" : i42
%myWire = hw.wire %0 : i42

Traits: SameOperandsAndResultType

Interfaces: InferTypeOpInterface, InnerSymbolOpInterface, OpAsmOpInterface

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
inner_sym::circt::hw::InnerSymAttrInner symbol definition

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputany type

Results:

ResultDescription
resultany type

Operation Definitions – Aggregates

hw.aggregate_constant (::circt::hw::AggregateConstantOp)

Produce a constant aggregate value

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.aggregate_constant` $fields attr-dict `:` type($result)

This operation produces a constant value of an aggregate type. Clock and reset values are supported. For nested aggregates, embedded arrays are used.

Examples:

  %result = hw.aggregate.constant [1 : i1, 2 : i2, 3 : i2] : !hw.struct<a: i8, b: i8, c: i8>
  %result = hw.aggregate.constant [1 : i1, [2 : i2, 3 : i2]] : !hw.struct<a: i8, b: vector<i8, 2>>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, ConstantLike

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
fields::mlir::ArrayAttrarray attribute

Results:

ResultDescription
resultan ArrayType or StructType

hw.array_concat (::circt::hw::ArrayConcatOp)

Concatenate some arrays

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.array_concat` $inputs attr-dict `:` custom<ArrayConcatTypes>(type($inputs), qualified(type($result)))

Creates an array by concatenating a variable set of arrays. One or more values must be listed.

// %a, %b, %c are hw arrays of i4 with sizes 2, 5, and 4 respectively.
%array = hw.array_concat %a, %b, %c : (2, 5, 4 x i4)
// %array is !hw.array<11 x i4>

See the HW-SV rationale document for details on operand ordering.

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputsvariadic of an ArrayType

Results:

ResultDescription
resultan ArrayType

hw.array_create (::circt::hw::ArrayCreateOp)

Create an array from values

Creates an array from a variable set of values. One or more values must be listed.

// %a, %b, %c are all i4
%array = hw.array_create %a, %b, %c : i4

See the HW-SV rationale document for details on operand ordering.

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait, SameTypeOperands

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputsvariadic of a type without inout

Results:

ResultDescription
resultan ArrayType

hw.array_get (::circt::hw::ArrayGetOp)

Get the value in an array at the specified index

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.array_get` $input`[`$index`]` attr-dict `:` qualified(type($input)) `,` qualified(type($index))

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, InferTypeOpInterface, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputan ArrayType
indexa signless integer bitvector

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta type without inout

hw.array_slice (::circt::hw::ArraySliceOp)

Get a range of values from an array

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.array_slice` $input`[`$lowIndex`]` attr-dict `:`
              `(` custom<SliceTypes>(type($input), qualified(type($lowIndex))) `)` `->` qualified(type($dst))

Extracts a sub-range from an array. The range is from lowIndex to lowIndex + the number of elements in the return type, non-inclusive on the high end. For instance,

// Slices 16 elements starting at '%offset'.
%subArray = hw.slice %largerArray at %offset :
    (!hw.array<1024xi8>) -> !hw.array<16xi8>

Would translate to the following SystemVerilog:

logic [7:0][15:0] subArray = largerArray[offset +: 16];

Width of ‘idx’ is defined to be the precise number of bits required to index the ‘input’ array. More precisely: for an input array of size M, the width of ‘idx’ is ceil(log2(M)). Lower and upper bound indexes which are larger than the size of the ‘input’ array results in undefined behavior.

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputan ArrayType
lowIndexa signless integer bitvector

Results:

ResultDescription
dstan ArrayType

hw.struct_create (::circt::hw::StructCreateOp)

Create a struct from constituent parts.

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputvariadic of a type without inout

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta StructType

hw.struct_explode (::circt::hw::StructExplodeOp)

Expand a struct into its constituent parts.

%result:2 = hw.struct_explode %input : !hw.struct<foo: i19, bar: i7>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface), OpAsmOpInterface

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputa StructType

Results:

ResultDescription
resultvariadic of a type without inout

hw.struct_extract (::circt::hw::StructExtractOp)

Extract a named field from a struct.

%result = hw.struct_extract %input["field"] : !hw.struct<field: type>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface), OpAsmOpInterface

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
fieldIndex::mlir::IntegerAttr32-bit signless integer attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputa StructType

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta type without inout

hw.struct_inject (::circt::hw::StructInjectOp)

Inject a value into a named field of a struct.

%result = hw.struct_inject %input["field"], %newValue
    : !hw.struct<field: type>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, InferTypeOpInterface, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
fieldIndex::mlir::IntegerAttr32-bit signless integer attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputa StructType
newValuea type without inout

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta StructType

hw.union_create (::circt::hw::UnionCreateOp)

Create a union with the specified value.

Create a union with the value ‘input’, which can then be accessed via the specified field.

  %x = hw.constant 0 : i3
  %z = hw.union_create "bar", %x : !hw.union<bar: i3, baz: i8>

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
fieldIndex::mlir::IntegerAttr32-bit signless integer attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputa type without inout

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta UnionType

hw.union_extract (::circt::hw::UnionExtractOp)

Get a union member.

Get the value of a union, interpreting it as the type of the specified member field. Extracting a value belonging to a different field than the union was initially created will result in undefined behavior.

  %u = ...
  %v = hw.union_extract %u["foo"] : !hw.union<foo: i3, bar: i16>
  // %v is of type 'i3'

Traits: AlwaysSpeculatableImplTrait

Interfaces: ConditionallySpeculatable, InferTypeOpInterface, NoMemoryEffect (MemoryEffectOpInterface)

Effects: MemoryEffects::Effect{}

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
fieldIndex::mlir::IntegerAttr32-bit signless integer attribute

Operands:

OperandDescription
inputa UnionType

Results:

ResultDescription
resulta type without inout

Operation Definitions – Type Declarations

hw.type_scope (::circt::hw::TypeScopeOp)

Type declaration wrapper.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.type_scope` $sym_name $body attr-dict

An operation whose one body block contains type declarations. This op provides a scope for type declarations at the top level of an MLIR module. It is a symbol that may be looked up within the module, as well as a symbol table itself, so type declarations may be looked up.

Traits: NoRegionArguments, NoTerminator, SingleBlock, SymbolTable

Interfaces: Emittable, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

hw.typedecl (::circt::hw::TypedeclOp)

Type declaration.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.typedecl` $sym_name (`,` $verilogName^)? `:` $type attr-dict

Associate a symbolic name with a type.

Traits: HasParent<TypeScopeOp>

Interfaces: Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
type::mlir::TypeAttrany type attribute
verilogName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

Attribute Definitions

EnumFieldAttr

Enumeration field attribute

This attribute represents a field of an enumeration.

Examples:

  #hw.enum.value<A, !hw.enum<A, B, C>>

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
field::mlir::StringAttr
type::mlir::TypeAttr

OutputFileAttr

Output file attribute

This attribute represents an output file for something which will be printed. The filename string is the file to be output to. If filename ends in a / it is considered an output directory.

When ExportVerilog runs, one of the files produced is a list of all other files which are produced. The flag excludeFromFileList controls if this file should be included in this list. If any OutputFileAttr referring to the same file sets this to true, it will be included in the file list. This option defaults to false.

For each file emitted by the verilog emitter, certain prelude output will be included before the main content. The flag includeReplicatedOps can be used to disable the addition of the prelude text. All OutputFileAttrs referring to the same file must use a consistent setting for this value. This option defaults to true.

Examples:

  #hw.ouput_file<"/home/tester/t.sv">
  #hw.ouput_file<"t.sv", excludeFromFileList, includeReplicatedOps>

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
filename::mlir::StringAttr
excludeFromFilelist::mlir::BoolAttr
includeReplicatedOps::mlir::BoolAttr

ParamDeclAttr

Module or instance parameter definition

An attribute describing a module parameter, or instance parameter specification.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
name::mlir::StringAttr
type::mlir::Type
value::mlir::Attribute

ParamDeclRefAttr

Is a reference to a parameter value.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
name::mlir::StringAttr
type::mlir::Type

ParamExprAttr

Parameter expression combining operands

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
opcodePEO
operands::llvm::ArrayRef<::mlir::TypedAttr>
type::mlir::Type

ParamVerbatimAttr

Represents text to emit directly to SystemVerilog for a parameter

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
value::mlir::StringAttr
type::mlir::Type

InnerRefAttr

Refer to a name inside a module

This works like a symbol reference, but to a name inside a module.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
moduleRef::mlir::FlatSymbolRefAttr
name::mlir::StringAttr

Type Definitions

hw.type_scope (::circt::hw::TypeScopeOp)

Type declaration wrapper.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.type_scope` $sym_name $body attr-dict

An operation whose one body block contains type declarations. This op provides a scope for type declarations at the top level of an MLIR module. It is a symbol that may be looked up within the module, as well as a symbol table itself, so type declarations may be looked up.

Traits: NoRegionArguments, NoTerminator, SingleBlock, SymbolTable

Interfaces: Emittable, Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

hw.typedecl (::circt::hw::TypedeclOp)

Type declaration.

Syntax:

operation ::= `hw.typedecl` $sym_name (`,` $verilogName^)? `:` $type attr-dict

Associate a symbolic name with a type.

Traits: HasParent<TypeScopeOp>

Interfaces: Symbol

Attributes:

AttributeMLIR TypeDescription
sym_name::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute
type::mlir::TypeAttrany type attribute
verilogName::mlir::StringAttrstring attribute

ArrayType

fixed-sized array

Syntax:

!hw.array<
  ::mlir::Type,   # elementType
  ::mlir::Attribute   # sizeAttr
>

Fixed sized HW arrays are roughly similar to C arrays. On the wire (vs. in a memory), arrays are always packed. Memory layout is not defined as it does not need to be since in silicon there is not implicit memory sharing.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
elementType::mlir::Type
sizeAttr::mlir::Attribute

EnumType

HW Enum type

Represents an enumeration of values. Enums are interpreted as integers with a synthesis-defined encoding. !hw.enum<field1, field2>

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
fieldsmlir::ArrayAttr

StringType

String type

Syntax: !hw.string

Defines a string type for the hw-centric dialects

InOutType

inout type

Syntax:

!hw.inout<
  ::mlir::Type   # elementType
>

InOut type is used for model operations and values that have “connection” semantics, instead of typical dataflow behavior. This is used for wires and inout ports in Verilog.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
elementType::mlir::Type

IntType

parameterized-width integer

Parameterized integer types are equivalent to the MLIR standard integer type: it is signless, and may be any width integer. This type represents the case when the width is a parameter in the HW dialect sense.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
width::mlir::TypedAttr

ModuleType

Module Type

Module types have ports.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
ports::llvm::ArrayRef<::circt::hw::ModulePort>port list

StructType

HW struct type

Represents a structure of name, value pairs. !hw.struct<fieldName1: Type1, fieldName2: Type2>

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
elements::llvm::ArrayRef<::circt::hw::StructType::FieldInfo>struct fields

TypeAliasType

An symbolic reference to a type declaration

A TypeAlias is parameterized by a SymbolRefAttr, which points to a TypedeclOp. The root reference should refer to a TypeScope within the same outer ModuleOp, and the leaf reference should refer to a type within that TypeScope. A TypeAlias is further parameterized by the inner type, which is needed to be known at the time the type is parsed.

Upon construction, a TypeAlias stores the symbol reference and type, and canonicalizes the type to resolve any nested type aliases. The canonical type is also cached to avoid recomputing it when needed.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
refmlir::SymbolRefAttr
innerTypemlir::Type
canonicalTypemlir::Type

UnionType

An untagged union of types

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
elements::llvm::ArrayRef<::circt::hw::UnionType::FieldInfo>union fields

UnpackedArrayType

SystemVerilog ‘unpacked’ fixed-sized array

Syntax:

!hw.uarray<
  ::mlir::Type,   # elementType
  ::mlir::Attribute   # sizeAttr
>

Unpacked arrays are a more flexible array representation than packed arrays, and are typically used to model memories. See SystemVerilog Spec 7.4.2.

Parameters:

ParameterC++ typeDescription
elementType::mlir::Type
sizeAttr::mlir::Attribute

CombDataFlow (CombDataflow)

This interface is used for specifying the combinational dataflow that exists in the results and operands of an operation. Any operation that doesn’t implement this interface is assumed to have a combinational dependence from each operand to each result.

Methods:

computeDataFlow

llvm::SmallVector<std::pair<circt::FieldRef, circt::FieldRef>> computeDataFlow();

Get the combinational dataflow relations between the operands and the results. This returns a pair of ground type fieldrefs. The first element is the destination and the second is the source of the dependence. The default implementation returns an empty list, which implies that the operation is not combinational.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

HWEmittableModuleLike (HWEmittableModuleLike)

This interface indicates that the module like op is emittable in SV and requires SV legalization on its body.

Methods:

HWInstanceLike (HWInstanceLike)

Provide common instance information.

Methods:

getInputName

::mlir::StringAttr getInputName(size_t idx);

Return the name of the specified input port or null if it cannot be determined.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getOutputName

::mlir::StringAttr getOutputName(size_t idx);

Return the name of the specified result or null if it cannot be determined.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setInputName

void setInputName(size_t idx, ::mlir::StringAttr name);

Change the name of the specified input port.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setOutputName

void setOutputName(size_t idx, ::mlir::StringAttr name);

Change the name of the specified output port.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getInputNames

::mlir::ArrayAttr getInputNames();

Return the names of all input ports. If the instance operation stores the names in an ArrayAttr this can avoid attribute constructions.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getOutputNames

::mlir::ArrayAttr getOutputNames();

Return the name of all ouput ports. If the instance operation stores the names in an ArrayAttr this can avoid attribute constructions.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setInputNames

void setInputNames(::mlir::ArrayAttr names);

Change the names of all input ports. If all names have to be changed, this can avoid repeated intermediate attribute constructions.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setOutputNames

void setOutputNames(::mlir::ArrayAttr names);

Change the names of all output ports. If all names have to be changed, this can avoid repeated intermediate attribute constructions.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getDoNotPrint

bool getDoNotPrint();

True if this instance is a phony placeholder

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

HWModuleLike (HWModuleLike)

Provide common module information.

Methods:

getHWModuleType

::circt::hw::ModuleType getHWModuleType();

Get the module type

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getAllPortAttrs

ArrayRef<Attribute> getAllPortAttrs();

Get the port Attributes. This will return either an empty array or an array of size numPorts.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setAllPortAttrs

void setAllPortAttrs(ArrayRef<Attribute> attrs);

Set the port Attributes

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

removeAllPortAttrs

void removeAllPortAttrs();

Remove the port Attributes

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getAllPortLocs

SmallVector<Location> getAllPortLocs();

Get the port Locations

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setAllPortLocsAttrs

void setAllPortLocsAttrs(ArrayRef<Attribute> locs);

Set the port Locations

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setHWModuleType

void setHWModuleType(::circt::hw::ModuleType type);

Set the module type (and port names)

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setAllPortNames

void setAllPortNames(ArrayRef<Attribute> names);

Set the port names

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

HWMutableModuleLike (HWMutableModuleLike)

Provide methods to mutate a module.

Methods:

getPortLookupInfo

::circt::hw::ModulePortLookupInfo getPortLookupInfo();

Get a handle to a utility class which provides by-name lookup of port indices. The returned object does not update if the module is mutated.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

modifyPorts

void modifyPorts(ArrayRef<std::pair<unsigned, circt::hw::PortInfo>> insertInputs, ArrayRef<std::pair<unsigned, circt::hw::PortInfo>> insertOutputs, ArrayRef<unsigned> eraseInputs, ArrayRef<unsigned> eraseOutputs);

Insert and remove input and output ports

insertPorts

void insertPorts(ArrayRef<std::pair<unsigned, circt::hw::PortInfo>> insertInputs, ArrayRef<std::pair<unsigned, circt::hw::PortInfo>> insertOutputs);

Insert ports into this module

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

erasePorts

void erasePorts(ArrayRef<unsigned> eraseInputs, ArrayRef<unsigned> eraseOutputs);

Erase ports from this module

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

appendOutputs

void appendOutputs(ArrayRef<std::pair<StringAttr, Value>> outputs);

Append output values to this module

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

InnerRefUserOpInterface (InnerRefUserOpInterface)

This interface describes an operation that may use a InnerRef. This interface allows for users of inner symbols to hook into verification and other inner symbol related utilities that are either costly or otherwise disallowed within a traditional operation.

Methods:

verifyInnerRefs

::mlir::LogicalResult verifyInnerRefs(::circt::hw::InnerRefNamespace&ns);

Verify the inner ref uses held by this operation.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

InnerSymbolOpInterface (InnerSymbol)

This interface describes an operation that may define an inner_sym. An inner_sym operation resides in arbitrarily-nested regions of a region that defines a InnerSymbolTable. Inner Symbols are different from normal symbols due to MLIR symbol table resolution rules. Specifically normal symbols are resolved by first going up to the closest parent symbol table and resolving from there (recursing down for complex symbol paths). In HW and SV, modules define a symbol in a circuit or std.module symbol table. For instances to be able to resolve the modules they instantiate, the symbol use in an instance must resolve in the top-level symbol table. If a module were a symbol table, instances resolving a symbol would start from their own module, never seeing other modules (since resolution would start in the parent module of the instance and be unable to go to the global scope). The second problem arises from nesting. Symbols defining ops must be immediate children of a symbol table. HW and SV operations which define a inner_sym are grandchildren, at least, of a symbol table and may be much further nested. Lastly, ports need to define inner_sym, something not allowed by normal symbols.

Any operation implementing an InnerSymbol may have the inner symbol be optional and all methods should be robuse to the attribute not being defined.

Methods:

getInnerNameAttr

::mlir::StringAttr getInnerNameAttr();

Returns the name of the top-level inner symbol defined by this operation, if present.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getInnerName

::std::optional<::mlir::StringRef> getInnerName();

Returns the name of the top-level inner symbol defined by this operation, if present.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setInnerSymbol

void setInnerSymbol(::mlir::StringAttr name);

Sets the name of the top-level inner symbol defined by this operation to the specified string, dropping any symbols on fields.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

setInnerSymbolAttr

void setInnerSymbolAttr(::circt::hw::InnerSymAttr sym);

Sets the inner symbols defined by this operation.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getInnerRef

::circt::hw::InnerRefAttr getInnerRef();

Returns an InnerRef to this operation’s top-level inner symbol, which must be present.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getInnerSymAttr

::circt::hw::InnerSymAttr getInnerSymAttr();

Returns the InnerSymAttr representing all inner symbols defined by this operation.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

supportsPerFieldSymbols

static bool supportsPerFieldSymbols();

Returns whether per-field symbols are supported for this operation type.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getTargetResultIndex

static std::optional<size_t> getTargetResultIndex();

Returns the index of the result the innner symbol targets, if applicable. Per-field symbols are resolved into this.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getTargetResult

OpResult getTargetResult();

Returns the result the innner symbol targets, if applicable. Per-field symbols are resolved into this.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

PortList (PortList)

Operations which produce a unified port list representation

Methods:

getPortList

SmallVector<::circt::hw::PortInfo> getPortList();

Get port list

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getPort

::circt::hw::PortInfo getPort(size_t idx);

Get port list

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getPortIdForInputId

size_t getPortIdForInputId(size_t idx);

Get the port a specific input

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getPortIdForOutputId

size_t getPortIdForOutputId(size_t idx);

Get the port a specific output

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getNumPorts

size_t getNumPorts();

Get the number of ports

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getNumInputPorts

size_t getNumInputPorts();

Get the number of input ports

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getNumOutputPorts

size_t getNumOutputPorts();

Get the number of output ports

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

FieldIDTypeInterface (FieldIDTypeInterface)

Common methods for types which can be indexed by a FieldID. FieldID is a depth-first numbering of the elements of a type. For example:

struct a  /* 0 */ {
  int b; /* 1 */
  struct c /* 2 */ {
    int d; /* 3 */
  }
}

int e; /* 0 */

Methods:

getMaxFieldID

uint64_t getMaxFieldID();

Get the maximum field ID for this type

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getSubTypeByFieldID

std::pair<::mlir::Type, uint64_t> getSubTypeByFieldID(uint64_t fieldID);

Get the sub-type of a type for a field ID, and the subfield’s ID. Strip off a single layer of this type and return the sub-type and a field ID targeting the same field, but rebased on the sub-type.

The resultant type may not be a FieldIDTypeInterface if the resulting fieldID is zero. This means that leaf types may be ground without implementing an interface. An empty aggregate will also appear as a zero.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

projectToChildFieldID

std::pair<uint64_t, bool> projectToChildFieldID(uint64_t fieldID, uint64_t index);

Returns the effective field id when treating the index field as the root of the type. Essentially maps a fieldID to a fieldID after a subfield op. Returns the new id and whether the id is in the given child.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getIndexForFieldID

uint64_t getIndexForFieldID(uint64_t fieldID);

Returns the index (e.g. struct or vector element) for a given FieldID. This returns the containing index in the case that the fieldID points to a child field of a field.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getFieldID

uint64_t getFieldID(uint64_t index);

Return the fieldID of a given index (e.g. struct or vector element). Field IDs start at 1, and are assigned to each field in a recursive depth-first walk of all elements. A field ID of 0 is used to reference the type itself.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

getIndexAndSubfieldID

std::pair<uint64_t, uint64_t> getIndexAndSubfieldID(uint64_t fieldID);

Find the index of the element that contains the given fieldID. As well, rebase the fieldID to the element.

NOTE: This method must be implemented by the user.

'hw' Dialect Docs