VHDL: use the length of an integer generic to determine number of select lines

Question

I\'m trying to create a reusable barrel shifter; it takes an input array of bits and shifts them a certain number of positions (determined by another input). I want to parameter

Answer 1

Two alternative approaches:

You could work it backwards and have the generic as shift_bits - then calculate the width of the input and output vectors from that:

generic ( shift_bits: integer :=3);                                                   
Port    ( INPUT     : in   std_logic_vector ((2**shift_bits)-1 downto 0);                
          OUTPUT    : out  std_logic_vector ((2**shift_bits)-1 downto 0);                
          SHIFT_CNT : in   std_logic_vector (shift_bits-1 downto 0)                 
        ); 

Or treat the count as a number:

generic ( NUMBITS : integer :=8);                                                   
Port    ( INPUT     : in   std_logic_vector (NUMBITS-1 downto 0);                
          OUTPUT    : out  std_logic_vector (NUMBITS-1 downto 0);                
          SHIFT_CNT : in   integer range 0 to numbits-1                 
        );  

and let the tools figure it out for you.