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>" There are a number of "soft" CPUs where you can play around with this to your hearts content (given you have enough gates in your FPGA, which is getting easi

>" There are a number of "soft" CPUs where you can play around with this to your hearts content (given you have enough gates in your FPGA, which is getting easier and easier these days)." Could you make some recommendations for a newcomer in terms of ease of use and good tooling? Thanks.

ChuckMcM 6y ago
Perhaps the easiest way to get set up is to get a ULX3S from Crowd Supply[1], and then download the "official" tool chain from Github[2]. This project[3] is a good hackable target. There are interesting examples for this board here[4]. A better collection of links are here: https://ulx3s.github.io/ https://ulx3s.github.io/ You'll need to develop some HDL skills (which is a deep dive) but it is well worth it to make experimental computer architectures! [1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s [2] https://github.com/ulx3s/ulx3s-toolchain https://github.com/ulx3s/ulx3s-toolchain [3] https://github.com/SpinalHDL/SaxonSoc/tree/dev-0.1/bsp/radiona/ulx3s/smp https://github.com/SpinalHDL/SaxonSoc/tree/dev-0.1/bsp/radio... [4] https://github.com/emard/ulx3s-examples https://github.com/emard/ulx3s-examples
- bogomipz 6y ago
  Thanks for the recommendation this is a great list of links. You states: >"You'll need to develop some HDL skills ..." Do you have some of recommendations on where to begin with that? Thanks
  - ChuckMcM 6y ago
    Well there are two popular HDLs, one is Verilog and the other VHDL. In my experience Verilog is more popular both in github repositories and around the industry, so you could get something like "Verilog by Example"[1] which is a pretty concise jump into building things with Verilog. There are a number of universities that put their Verilog course notes on-line and that is a good source of reference material as well. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Verilog-Example-Concise-Introduction-Design/dp/0983497303 https://www.amazon.com/Verilog-Example-Concise-Introduction-...

ChuckMcM 6y ago

Perhaps the easiest way to get set up is to get a ULX3S from Crowd Supply[1], and then download the "official" tool chain from Github[2]. This project[3] is a good hackable target. There are interesting examples for this board here[4]. A better collection of links are here: https://ulx3s.github.io/ https://ulx3s.github.io/ You'll need to develop some HDL skills (which is a deep dive) but it is well worth it to make experimental computer architectures! [1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s [2] https://github.com/ulx3s/ulx3s-toolchain https://github.com/ulx3s/ulx3s-toolchain [3] https://github.com/SpinalHDL/SaxonSoc/tree/dev-0.1/bsp/radiona/ulx3s/smp https://github.com/SpinalHDL/SaxonSoc/tree/dev-0.1/bsp/radio... [4] https://github.com/emard/ulx3s-examples https://github.com/emard/ulx3s-examples

bogomipz 6y ago
Thanks for the recommendation this is a great list of links. You states: >"You'll need to develop some HDL skills ..." Do you have some of recommendations on where to begin with that? Thanks
- ChuckMcM 6y ago
  Well there are two popular HDLs, one is Verilog and the other VHDL. In my experience Verilog is more popular both in github repositories and around the industry, so you could get something like "Verilog by Example"[1] which is a pretty concise jump into building things with Verilog. There are a number of universities that put their Verilog course notes on-line and that is a good source of reference material as well. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Verilog-Example-Concise-Introduction-Design/dp/0983497303 https://www.amazon.com/Verilog-Example-Concise-Introduction-...