Project A2Z Computer : same principle, more fun

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Project A2Z Computer : same principle, more fun

F4HDK
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Hello, I am F4HDK (amateur radio callsign), a hobbyist from France.

I want to share with you my last project : A2Z Computer.
This computer is hosted on a FPGA.

English : https://hackaday.io/project/18206-a2z-computer/
French : http://f4hdk.free.fr/A2Z_computer/

All this project is OPEN SOURCE, and there is also an EMULATOR that runs on PC, so that you can experiment with A2Z even without hardware.

The principle is exactly the same than "nand to tetris" : manage all the aspects of one computer.  
It is also a "learning by doing" project. I made this project 100% by myself without external help, and without using source code from other projects. And of course, I have learned a lot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76hnOPgyzr0
A2Z Computer


But the characteristics of this computer are better than "nand 2 tetris":

Hardware (programmed in Verilog on a small FPGA) :
 * Custom CPU RISC 16bits (address bus 24 bits), with a custom instruction set, with Integer ALU, without interrupt capabilities
 * SRAM 2MB
 * VGA with 2 parts :
      1) Graphics 640 x 480 x 60Hz ; 256 colors; double buffering; video RAM shared with CPU
      2) Text overlaid (over graphic) 80 x 30
 * PS/2 keyboard interface
 * Serial port (interface with development PC)
 * SPI interface with a 16MB Flash chip (mass storage)

Software:
 * Custom basic language, with a homemade compiler
 * Assembler
 * Basic file system, and (very) simple OS
 * A text editor
 * Image viewer and map viewer
 * A car game like MicroMachines

I am very happy to share this project with you. Don't hesitate to ask me questions, either on hackaday.io or here.

Regards,
F4HDK.
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Re: Project A2Z Computer : same principle, more fun

tungsten
Neat!
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Re: Project A2Z Computer : same principle, more fun

ivant
This looks super cool!