7 Apr
2024
7 Apr
'24
6:01 p.m.
On 2024-04-06 9:40 a.m., Phil Budne via cctalk wrote:
Paul Koning wrote:
I need to write a emulator for a new cpu design I have. The 1086 cpu,
nice 20 bit cpu design from about 1968 using more modern parts. The
problem is the modern parts are just too fast and I have timing issues.
I can read/ write from memory using the front panel but not run code
for some reason. Jumps seem to work but HALT does not. This requires
a whole new bunch of PCB's with test points and other bug fixes, and I
have few weeks waiting for more parts.
I figure 90% of the code will be planning simple IO for this beast and
10% the emulator itself. I like real hardware that you can put a scope
too. All I can say modern programming is a about using a GUI and very
little about console IO. This is a bit change from using a PDP-8 with
TTY, and 4K focal.
Yes, and some emulations have done this, such as
Phil Budne's famous work in SIMH.
Famous?? I'm famous???!!!
To be fair, I started with Douglas W. Jones' PDP8 Emulator.
Which reminds me of:
If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of
giants. -- Isaac Newton
In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side with the giants
on whose shoulders we stand. -- Gerald Holton
If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my
shoulders. -- Hal Abelson
In computer science, we stand on each other's feet. -- Brian K. Reid
It was certainly an awakening to the inherent parallelism of "analog"
natural processes... I wrote and tuned the code twenty years ago, but
haven't looked at whether better results might be possible by wasting
the capabilities of current systems (SIMD libaries and/or multiple
cores). I felt like I only was able to give a slim impression, and
not an immersive experience. I've also wondered what could be done
with 4K HDR displays: making points round(!) and simulating the
"bloom" and intensity of repeatedly or highly intensified spots.
phil