Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 10/27/2017 12:06 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:

> But that doesn't directly relate to gate level emulation.  If you
> have gate level documentation you can of course build a copy of the
> machine out of actual gate-type parts, like 7400 chips.  Or you can
> write a gate level model in VHDL, which is not the most popular form
> but certainly perfectly straightforward.  Either way, though, you
> have to start with a document that shows what the gates are in the
> original and how they connect.  And to get it to work, you need to
> deal with timing issues and logic abuse, if present.  In the 6600,
> both are very present and very critical.  For example, I've been
> debugging a section (the central processor branch logic) where the
> behavior changes quite substantially depending on whether you favor S
> or R in an R/S flop, i.e., if both are asserted at the same time, who
> wins?  And the circuit and wire delays matter, down to the
> few-nanosecond level.

This.  In particular, google for a shot of the 6600 backplane.  Many of
those twisted wires were cut to provide specific delays.  Remember the
nanosecond-foot?  A lot of the old hardware used this in the design.

I've long had a fantasy about building a core-logic CPU such as the
Univac Solid State.  But heck if I know where one would get the "hard"
magnetic cores today.   Another example of something you can't do with
commodity TTL.


--Chuck