Has anyone created a copy machine of an old
system using an FPGA? I
was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

On 05/02/2010 18:19, in article
b...@o8g2000vbm.googlegroups.com, "Eric
Chomko" <p...@comcast.net> wrote:

> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

I think such a project would valuable, and perhaps even more valuable if it
aimed to recreate a machine of the "heroic" era -- a 7094, an Atlas, or a
KDF9, say. Perhaps even a Stretch.

KDF9 had about 20K transistors, a few K logic transformers, and a comparable
number of diodes; less than 50K devices in total. I imagine this would be
easily accommodated on a modern FPGA. The big question would be whether to
go for functional equivalence, or whether to try to replicate the original
internal structures.

Documentation would be the main challenge for the latter.

-- 
Bill Findlay
<surname><forename> chez blueyonder.co.uk

["Followup-To:" set to
comp.arch.fpga.]
Eric Chomko <p...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

There are several such projects, eg. this Atari ST clone:
http://www.experiment-s.de/en/

so most systems from the 8-bit era should be no problem at all.

cu
Michael

On Fri, 5 Feb 2010 10:19:25 -0800 (PST), Eric
Chomko
<p...@comcast.net> wrote:

|Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
|was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
|compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
|even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.


John Kent has done a lot of work using Xilinx chips and synthesizing a
6809 version of the SWTPC onto a chip. 

See his webpage here

http://members.optusnet.com.au/jekent/system09/

There is also a yahoo group that is centered around the Tandy CoCO3 on
a Digilent Spartan 3 starter board with the XC3S1000 chip option. The
yahoo group is known as CoCo3fpga I think. 

james

In comp.arch.fpga Eric Chomko
<p...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

I haven't done it yet, but I am interested.  I have a Digilent
Spartan3E board for that purpose.  I think it is big enough for
the whole system for many of those machines.

-- glen

Eric Chomko wrote:
> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

No fpga, but same idea:
http://www.grc.com/pdp-8/pdp-8.htm


       -- Mike Treseler

"Eric Chomko"
<p...@comcast.net> wrote in message 
news:b...@o8g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...
> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA?

There have recently been some discussions along these lines in the 
comp.lang.modula2 newsgroup regarding different ways of re-implementing a 
Lilith.

Also MiniMig is an Amiga 500 re-implemented using an FPGA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimig

--
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.cfbsoftware.com/modula2

Eric Chomko wrote:
> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

I did. Some 8 years ago.

http://alexfreed.com/FPGApple/

And then a few other vintage computers.

-Alex.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: n...@netfront.net ---

"Mike Treseler" <m...@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:7...@mid.individual.net...
> Eric Chomko wrote:
>> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
>> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
>> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
>> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.
>
> No fpga, but same idea:
> http://www.grc.com/pdp-8/pdp-8.htm

Looking at the PDP8 picture brings back bad memories of me helping to clear out 
the computer lab at my old University which was full of PDP8 and PDP11, it all 
went into the skip......;-(

Hans
www.ht-lab.com




>
>
>       -- Mike Treseler 

On 5 Feb, 18:19, Eric Chomko
<pne.cho...@comcast.net> wrote:

> Has anyone created a copy machine of an old system using an FPGA? I
> was wondering if it would be possible to take an entire SWTPC 6800 and
> compile the schematics and have it run on an FPGA board.? Wouldn't
> even have to be the latest Xylinx product, I suspect.

Like Alex Freed this person made an Apple 2 on FPGA

  http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/apple2fpga/

An amazing project however one looks at it. The power consumption
figures are interesting.

James