Baby's first steps.
OK, I'm not good at keeping up with the blog. That's because I've been having far too much fun (and far too little sleep) progressing my project.
But I think the results are worth it. The image above (click it for a larger version) is a simulator trace for my CPU executing one of its very first test programs :-)
Follow the "Read More" link at the right for more details.
But I think the results are worth it. The image above (click it for a larger version) is a simulator trace for my CPU executing one of its very first test programs :-)
Follow the "Read More" link at the right for more details.
Here's the code that it ran:
LDA 123 (load the Accumulator with decimal 123)
STO 0 (store the Accumulator in data memory byte 0)
ADD 1 (add 1 to the Accumulator)
STO 2 (store the Accumulator in data memory 2)
LDA 59 (load the Accumulator with decimal 59)
STO 1 (store the Accumulator in data memory byte 1)
OK, not exactly the answer to "Life, The Universe And Everything", but considering that I started with a blank sheet of paper and didn't know anything about FPGA, VHDL, or the multiple tools involved in any of this a few days ago, I'm pretty chuffed.
In my next few posts I will try to fill in the back story, covering my approach to this project, the educational aids I used, my architectural decisions in deriving the solution and, most importantly, the errors (OK Stephen, "learning opportunities") I encountered along the way.
In my next few posts I will try to fill in the back story, covering my approach to this project, the educational aids I used, my architectural decisions in deriving the solution and, most importantly, the errors (OK Stephen, "learning opportunities") I encountered along the way.