13 Feb
2015
13 Feb
'15
5:02 p.m.
Tom, any reason for choosing the Harvard architecture?
I'm currently in the middle of a relay computer build so I'll toss in my 2 cents.
The most important thing I hit on early is to define the instruction set, work out a
number of potential applications/uses on paper (or excel), and step through each
instruction to make sure the machine is capable enough. You'll probably discover a
number of efficiency improvements you can make to the hardware while doing so, and a few
"hardware subroutines" worth adding. You can also baseline how long a program
will take to run if you settle on a clock rate, and determine if there's a better way
to do it.
Ultimately, relay computers are SLOW. Don't take 6 cycles to do what could be
accomplished with a couple extra relays and a single pulse. Well thought out HW and
instructions will pay big dividends when the soldering iron comes out. -Cory
On Feb 13, 2015, at 5:52 PM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
On 2015-Feb-13, at 2:56 PM, Tom Sparks wrote:
> On 14/02/15 08:20, Brent Hilpert wrote:
>> On 2015-Feb-13, at 1:40 PM, Tom Sparks wrote:
>>
>>> I've been bouncing around the idea of building my own relay computer
>>>
>>> * I have mostly inspired by the TIM project[1] and Harry Porter's Relay
>>> Computer[2]
>>> * I am looking at having a limited number registers like the 6502 or 6800
>>> * the computer is going to be Harvard architecture based
>>>
>>> I wondering have any of use done anything like this?
>>>
>>> [1] http://www.northdownfarm.co.uk/rory/tim/
>>> [2] http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~harry/Relay/
>>
>>
>> I've examined and written about (and done some limited implementation of)
Simon, which is Harvard architecture.
>> http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~hilpert/e/simon/index.html
> that website looks familiar, thats it, the memory core write up
> bookmarked and added to my wget queue :)
>
>>
>> Due to it's limitations I haven't been all that enthused about fully
constructing it however.
>> It could perhaps be expanded into something more interesting.
>>
>> There's another relay computer design and implementation here which looks
interesting:
>> http://www.electronixandmore.com/projects/relaycomputertwo/index.html
>>
> I did bookmark and download electronixandmore website