Every few months, I read about some one who embarks and completes a homebrew CPU project. A few months have gone by, and here’s another. Someday, I really, really, really am going to have to do this myself.
Recently I decided to take on a very ambitious project to design my own microprocessor from scratch. A couple of things inspired me on this project, the first being a book I finished, Digital Apollo by David A. Mindell. This book details the design and engineering behind the AGC (Apollo guidance computer) and I was amazed to learn how well designed both the hardware and software were for it's time. The fact that it was designed completely with 3-input nor gates made it even more amazing. The second reason is the fact that several other people have done the exact same thing, built entire computers from basic TTL logic. A few blog posts have been floating around the internet detailing other peoples CPU designs, looking at these I knew it was something I could easily do myself and would be a very fun project.
I’ve got the Mindell book.
What kind of MCU do you have in mind ?
73
Scott
Quick random note.
You or some of your colleagues might enjoy the growing “Cone of Shame” photo pool on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/theconeofshame/pool/
When my dog came home wearing one, I thought of starting the pool, but, nope, it was already there. (Really enjoyed “Up” a lot. Thanks to all!)
🙂
I also am tempted to build yet another homebrew CPU.
Please add your tips and tricks and clever ideas for homebrew CPU design to the “Microprocessor Design” wikibook.
It already lists quite a few “CPUs built out of TTL chips”, and even a couple of relay computers.