How to 'assign' a value to an output reg in Verilog?

Question

( insert really basic question disclaimer here )

More specifically, I have the following declaration:

output reg icache_ram_rw

And

Answer 1

The assign statement is used for driving wires.

If you've somethings declared as a reg, then you have to give it values inside a procedure ( always or initial blocks ). It's best practice to only set values of regs in the same always block. eg:

always @( * ) begin // combo logic block
   if( some_condition ) begin
      icache_ram_rw = 1'b0;
   end else begin
      icache_ram_rw = something_else;
 end

There are important differences between regs and wires that you should read up on.

I've a feeling though that you'll need some clocked logic if you're driving RAM signals. In this case, you'll need code that looks something like this:

// some parameter definitions to make logic 'read' clearer.
localparam READ = 1'b0; 
localparam WRITE = 1'b1;

// standard clocked logic 'template' that synthesis tools recognise.
always @( posedge clk or negedge resetb )
  if( !resetb ) begin  // asynchronous active low reset
     icache_ram_rw <= READ;
  end else if( some_enable_condition ) begin
     icache_ram_rw <= WRITE;
  end else begin
     icache_ram_rw <= READ;
  end