microcoding a PC into a PDP-11 (was: RE: Classic Computers vs.

From: Hans B Pufal <hansp_at_aconit.org>
Date: Thu Sep 20 08:00:23 2001

Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote:

> What physical format would this project assume? I can think of several
> right off hand:
>
> * A card that emulates CPU/memory and plugs into the (Uni|Q)bus of
> existing machines.
> * A box that sits inside a PDP-11 cabinet and replaces the entire bus and
> all of the cards.
> * A hand-held, battery-powered unit similar to a Game Boy.
>
> It's the third idea that seems the coolest to me. Build it low-power
> enough to run on a few batteries. Give it a front panel with switches and
> LEDs for the processor and emulated peripherals. Add a serial link (or
> maybe even a Zip disk) for transferring files to/from another computer.
> It would be the ultimate toy. Just think of all the flavors it could be
> made in.


So do it with an Agenda, a Linux powered PDA. The project is completeley
open source so all details of the hardware are available. Its CPU is a
64 bit MIPS architecture, it has an LCD screen with touch panel input,
16Mb of flash and iirc 8Mb RAM at a cost of about USD 250.

  -- HBP
Received on Thu Sep 20 2001 - 08:00:23 BST