Actual Specifications that reflects revision B2 of the PCB
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CPU
65C816 @ 14 Mhz (working in 16Bits Expended Mode - Always)
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Memory (Updated)
4 MBytes of Static RAM for Video System (Graphic Data)
2 MBytes of Static RAM for System (Code & Data)
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System Controller Chip - CFP9518 - GAVIN
Fixed Point Math Co-Processor (16Bits Multiplication, 16Bits Division, 32Bits Addition)
Interface to the LPC Chip (Floppy, Serial Port, Parallel Port, Keyboard, Mouse, etc...)
SDMA Controller
Timer Controller
Interrupr Controller
Background Debug Module
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Video (Updated)
Graphic Chip - CFP9549 - VICKY
VICKY is now only dedicated to the Graphic Engine and its memory. It Contains all the video goodies to get bitmap, sprites, tiles, etc... and there is a VDMA block to move graphic info around inside the Graphic Memory. The Engine works @ 200Mbytes per second.
Standard Graphic (bit map) Resolution
Game Mode: 640 x 480 @ 60 FPS, 256 Colors which Includes: Bitmap + 4 Tiles Layers + 32 Sprites.(NEW)
The 800 x 600 Video mode has been eliminated.
Colors: 1 Byte per pixel for every graphic mode which gives 256 Simultaneous Color but can have different Palettes (Palette of 24 Bits Colors). Total of 8 Palettes in system for a total of 2K different colors from 16.4Millions possibilities.
Video Output:
DVI-D (TMDS - HDMI)
DVI-A (VGA)
Text Modes: (Preliminary)
Multi-Font Support (PETSCII, ASCII, etc...) 8x8 and 8x16. Monochrome (16 Colors FONT/ 16 Colors Background) Special Character supports. (PS2 Keyboard characters & C64 Keyboard characters support).
Multi Color FONT (256 Colors, 1 byte per pixel) for gaming mostly since the system doesn't store those.
32 Sprites
2D Game Engine: (Preliminary)
VDMA - Block Transfer within Graphic Memory
Layering System (10 Layers)
Inter-layer Collision Detection system with Interrupt.
Example:
1- Sprites (Front of Screen)
2- Multi Color TILE Layer 0 with or without Sprites
3- Sprites Inter-Layer
4- Multi Color TILE Layer 1 with or without Sprites
5- Sprites Inter-Layer
6- Multi Color TILE Layer 2 with or without Sprites
7- Sprites Inter-Layer
8- Multi Color TILE Layer 3 with or without Sprites and/ or Collision Layer
9- Sprites Inter-Layer
10- Bitmap (Back of Screen)
1x TILE = 16 x 16 Pixels @ 256 Colors from Choices of LUT
1x Sprite = 32 x 32 Pixels @ 256 Colors from Choices of LUT
(More details to come, will be detailed in the VICKY user manual)
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Sound (Updated)
Sound Controller Chip - Code Name: BEATRIX
(Mono) 6 Voices FPGA SID (No Filters)(NEW)
(Stereo) 9+9 Voices from 2x OPL2
Plus a Full 24 Bits CODEC, used in 16Bits Mode @ 48Khz
Connectors:
Stereo RCA In - Line In for ADC Sampling.(NEW)
Stereo RCA Out - Line Out with complete music (ADC + Line IN + SID + OPL2 + Cartridge Input)(NEW)
1/4" Jack Output for Headphone (Digitally Adjustable)(NEW)
Midi In / DIN Connector
Midi Out / DIN Connector
Beatrix is essentially a sequencer that will take care of feeding the data to the right chip at the right time. Beatrix has the independent control of all the Audio Chips and will be able to perform a sync write to all the chips at the same time.
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System
System Controller Chip with INT Controller / Timer - Code Name: GAVIN
1x RS-232 Port, External DB9 Male (Super IO)(NEW)
1x RS-232 Port, internal 10 Pin Headers (Super IO)
1x EPP Parallel Port , External DB25 Female (Super IO)(Super IO)(NEW)
1x Internal 3.5" Floppy with DMA Support. CBM Format support as well as FAT. (Super IO)
1x SDCARD Connector (NEW)
4x Joystick (DB9) Port with Analog Input (NEW)
1x PS2 Keyboard Din Connector (Super IO)
1x PS2 Mouse Din Connector (Super IO)
1x USB to Serial for connectivity to Gavin** (This is for the developer unit only)
Software
Kernel (System Control/Disk OS)
Extended version of Basic to support Hardware features to control graphic and sound and I/Os.
Resident Monitor for Debug and Development
PC Development Suite to help the developer to design software development and games.
NO C64 Support whatsoever.
Cheers,
Stefany, March 10th, 2019
Interesting project. It's nice to ask everyone's opinion about technical choices, but don't listen to them too much. Some people are just crazy here, they'd want 16 MB of RAM on a 16 bit CPU, they have no idea how ridiculous it is. 2MB is already huge, it's the size of a whole game of the 16-bit era accounting all assets, those machines had only 256K of RAM or something like that, and still could do wonders.
Less is more. Personnally, if I had to buy a retro computer, I would like it simple. No tons of IO, no upgradable parts, just a set of well documented specs/features that'd allow me to make software for it without the hassle of modern development (tons of different hardware, different OS, different browsers, tons of libs...). Also I think BASIC sucks (as much as floppy disks) and doesn't deserve your time making it better or faster, it's a beginner language and using it on CPUs with only a few Mhz doesn't make much sense...
I saw the 8-bit guy and some other people have dreams like yours, It's a pity that everyone keeps their personal projects instead of building something together. Everyone seems to have too much of a precise idea about what the device should be, ending up with disagreements with others, making the collaboration impossible.