F-CPU project, oct. 26th 2000 :
release of the first package !
bundled by whygee@f-cpu.org

Hi,

It was finally time to release a first bundle of
VHDL files. It is not a complete set of files
because we have just started :-) The other design
files will be rather slow to come, too, because of
the necessity to check all the functionalities.
On top of that, we're not much people working on
this side of the project and we can't spend our
whole days designing the F-CPU. Finally the
toolsuite is still a problem : the provided files
have not been synthesized.

At least, this package shows the current status of
the project. It also serves as a basis for future
design files and it constitutes a part of the global
F-CPU and FC0 specification. It will be used to
update the F-CPU manual v0.2.


Some details :
- all the files are distributed under the GPL.
- they have been compiled and simulated with Simili
  from Symphony EDA. No synthesis has been attempted
  yet.
- the design and the specifications are thought to
  be as accurate as possible. though, as you can
  imagine, the implementation reveals some
  inacuracies in the F-CPU manual. These files are
  based on the (old) F-CPU manual v0.2 that should
  be now updated.


The files : the names are explicit but here is an
overview.

   ############ Main design files : ############

* ROP2.vhdl : the design file itself, it defines the
  ROP2 unit as defined in the F-CPU manual (v0.2).
  It is rather simple, but has the merit that it
  exists :-)

* F-CPU_config.vhdl : the configuration file.
  It defines a lot of the main F-CPU and FC0
  characteristics, mainly the word size. This
  file/package MUST be reused by every F-CPU
  design.

     ############ Testbench : ############

* ROP2_testbench.vhdl : the testbench. It contains
  a little interpreter that reads a vector file
  and feeds a ROP2 instance to check the behaviour.

* ROP2vectors.txt : test vectors for the above file.

* testROP2.bat : MS-DOS batch file that compiles and
  runs the whole testbench. it is configured for
  Simili.

* ROP2vectors.out.txt : output of the testbench

       ############ Misc. : ############

* testbench_template.vhdl : a template if you want
  to write your own testbench with VHDL. the
  interpreter is better than ROP2_testbench.vhdl
  and can be customized at will.

* README.txt : this file

* COPYING.txt : a copy of the GPL for your
  collecting pleasure.


As always :
- if you have any question
- if you find a bug, a wrong detail
- if you experience a problem with the toolsuite
- if you enhance/modify/change the files
 -> please contact us so we can take the remarks
    into account in the next distribution.

have fun,
YG