#include <stdio.h>

int bit_merge(unsigned short lower, unsigned short upper);

int main() {
    unsigned short hn1 = 0x1234;
    unsigned short hn2 = 0xabcd;
    int result;

    result = bit_merge(hn1, hn2);

    printf("\nmerging 0x%x and 0x%x results in 0x%x\n", hn1, hn2, result);

    return 0;
}


int bit_merge(unsigned short lower, unsigned short upper) {

    int merged = ((int)upper << 16) | lower;

    return merged;
}