The FPGA technology in retro-computing applications
At the beginning of 2020, an employee of the Department of Complex Systems, Michał Piętal, PhD, published a popular science article in the printed magazine - Amiga Future, entitled “FPGA-based Amiga clones”. The said magazine is published in print, in English and German, since more that 20 years.
Currently, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) technology is being used across multiple ICT applications. First of all, the technology itself was deemed to be used as the first choice for integrated circuits’ design, prototyping, testing and debugging. This is a cheap way to simulate and test an integrated circuit, before it actually gets to any production phase. Simply, by using an FPGA chip any capable person can alter its logic gates’ values via the software, in order to simulate practically anything. This methodology is mainly used in prototyping and design also means it’s especially useful in the large embedded market. Example languages used to program the FPGAs are: Verilog and VHDL.
FPGA technology and the Amiga world have a substantial overlap. The article contains a review of the six FPGA solutions, with applications in “retro-computing”: MiniMig, MiST, MiSTer, DIY-A586, The Replay Board and the Vampire V4 Standalone System.
Currently, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) technology is being used across multiple ICT applications. First of all, the technology itself was deemed to be used as the first choice for integrated circuits’ design, prototyping, testing and debugging. This is a cheap way to simulate and test an integrated circuit, before it actually gets to any production phase. Simply, by using an FPGA chip any capable person can alter its logic gates’ values via the software, in order to simulate practically anything. This methodology is mainly used in prototyping and design also means it’s especially useful in the large embedded market. Example languages used to program the FPGAs are: Verilog and VHDL.
FPGA technology and the Amiga world have a substantial overlap. The article contains a review of the six FPGA solutions, with applications in “retro-computing”: MiniMig, MiST, MiSTer, DIY-A586, The Replay Board and the Vampire V4 Standalone System.
