How to declare a global variable in Verilog? - variables

Question

I am writing to ask how to declare a global variable in Verilog. What declared by parameter and define keywords are essentially constants, not variables.
What I need is the following:
`define Glitch
module Cell ( Shift_In, Shift_Out_Screwed, Clk );
input Clk, Shift_In;
output Shift_Out_Screwed;
wire Shift_Out_Screwed;
wire Shift_Out;
Inverter INV1 ( Shift_In, Shift_Out, Clk );
assign Shift_Out_Screwed = Glitch ? ~Shift_Out : Shift_Out
endmodule
This is a very simple glitch insertion. When Glitch==1, the original output is reversed; when Glitch==0, the original output is kept unchanged. I want the signal Glitch to be defined in an external simulation testbench.v file although it is declared and used here, and I don't want to add the signal Glitch to the input port list of the module cell. This is because that my real circuit is a very complicated one, and if I add an input port to a certain cell, there will be many other cells affected.
Does anyone know how to declare a global variable in Verilog?

Answer 1

The problem you are wrestling with sounds like error injection. You want the ability to inject a bit error on an output port from within a testbench. You can do it like this:
module Cell ( Shift_In, Shift_Out_Screwed, Clk );
input Clk, Shift_In;
output Shift_Out_Screwed;
wire Shift_Out_Screwed;
wire Shift_Out;
Inverter INV1 ( Shift_In, Shift_Out, Clk );
`ifdef SIMULATION
// This logic is used in simulation, but not synthesis. Use care.
logic Glitch = 1'b0;
assign Shift_Out_Screwed = Glitch ? ~Shift_Out : Shift_Out
`else
// This logic is used in synthesis, but not simulation. Use care.
assign Shift_out_Screwed = Shift_out;
`endif
endmodule
Note that I use the "SIMULATION" preprocessor switch to hide the "Glitch" error injection from synthesis. Use this technique with care to avoid creating simulation/synthesis mismatches.
In your testbench, you can induce a glitch in a specific instance of your cell by referencing the "Glitch" signal in the design hierarchy, like this:
initial begin
...
#(posedge Clk); #1;
$top.u_foo.u_bar.u_cell.Glitch = 1'b1;
#(posedge Clk); #1;
$top.u_foo.u_bar.u_cell.Glitch = 1'b1;
...
end
The above code snippet will inject one cycle of "Glitch".
As an alternative: a more traditional way of injecting errors is to use the "force" statement in the testbench to override a driven in a device under test.