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Artifact ID: | f849f8a46a1088471227cf579110be477b92b68fd8586863f6dee6c8b03ba89a |
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Page Name: | Base Specs |
Date: | 2017-12-16 07:33:29 |
Original User: | kc5tja |
Mimetype: | text/x-markdown |
Next | 4b8acca02fe9824243884f7af9641257ab31171187d4f487078934fb14e82f12 |
Base Specifications
As I write this, the very first member of the Kestrel-3 family should support my use-cases with the following features, as found on my Altera/TerasIC DE-1 development board:
- 512KiB RAM
- 640×480 display resolution with 16 colors out of 4096.
- Built-in SD card slot for bootstrapping, loading data, and saving data.
- PS/2 keyboard for user input.
- A 9-pin RS-232 port.
I target this board for the purposes of simplicity: it has everything I need to make a reference implementation of the computer. It also is quite affordable at US$150, at least until such time as they stop manufacturing it.
Long-Term Vision
The big problem with the DE-1 board is it's not open source; for this reason, I desire porting the Kestrel-3 family to use open-source FPGA boards. This includes the icoBoard Gamma and MyStorm BlackIce. My vision here is a PMOD-based backplane into which you plug in one or more FPGA boards. This concept is not fully fleshed out, however; details to come as I resolve fundamental problems with this approach.
Of course, I reserve the right to change my plans depending upon changes in general hardware availability.