On 8/26/2014 3:58 PM, John Monahan wrote:
Hi Dave, A while back I took a look at programming FPGA’s, got the G.R Smith FPGA’s 101 book. Scared the daylights out of me! I conclude the only way I could ever get up to speed programming those things would be to attend some serious programming course(s). That in itself is not a show stopper, but even if I thoroughly mastered the art, there is no way I could hammer one into shape to emulate an ARM or Atom CPU.
Creating a CPU is a /big/ job. For me, it takes multiple years (in my spare time). If you wanted to do an CPU in an FPGA, there are better CPUs than ARM.
Having said that, I think that creating stuff in FPGAs is much simpler than you believe. Once you learn how to do some basic things you're are well on your way. Things like:
1. D flip-flop with optional set and reset. 2. Shift register 3. RAM and ROM 4. State machine 5. CountersThink of the various 7400 chips you use. I've always believed that the hard part is learning how to do logic design - not learning how to code-up a counter.
Rob.