Methods and systems for generating an integer neural network are described. The method includes receiving an input vector comprising a plurality of input values. The plurality of input values are represented using a desired number bits. The input vector is multiplied by a weight vector, and the products of which are summed to obtain a first value. The first value is quantized and applied to a piecewise linear activation function to obtain a second value. The piecewise linear activation function is a set of linear function that collectively approximate a nonlinear activation function. The second value is quantized to generate the output of the neuron in the integer neural network.