Data Types and Bit-Widths - 2021.1 English

Vitis High-Level Synthesis User Guide (UG1399)

Document ID
UG1399
Release Date
2021-06-16
Version
2021.1 English

The bit-widths of the variables in the C/C++ function directly impact the size of the storage elements and operators used in the RTL implementation. If a variables only requires 12-bits but is specified as an integer type (32-bit) it will result in larger and slower 32-bit operators being used, reducing the number of operations that can be performed in a clock cycle and potentially increasing initiation interval and latency.

  • Use the appropriate precision for the data types.
  • Confirm the size of any arrays that are to be implemented as RAMs or registers. The area impact of any over-sized elements is wasteful in hardware resources.
  • Pay special attention to multiplications, divisions, modulus or other complex arithmetic operations. If these variables are larger than they need to be, they negatively impact both area and performance.