Implementation of Nand2Tetris-FPGA initially developed by Michael Schröder.
... Wouldn't it be nice to make Hack or Jack also run on some "real platform," made from some "real stuff"? ...
---Noam Nisan and Shimon Schocken
This project is about building Hack on real hardware as proposed in Chapter 13 of the course Nand2Tetris using only FOSS, free and open source hard- and software.
We build hack in 9 steps, starting with Hack-1, a minimal working Hack-CPU connected to some LEDs and buttons and ending at Hack-9, the final implementation of Hack running Jack-Compiled code with specs:
- original CPU/ALU design of HACK from Nand2Tetris
- implemented on iCE40 FPGA
- clocked at 33.333333 MHz
- RAM 3840 x 16 bit (R0-R15/static/stack/heap)
- Programmable instruction memory PROM 64K x 16 bit
- 2.8 Inch Color LCD with 320x240 Pixel
- SD-Card-Reader
- bootloader in ROM (256 words) boots Hack-code from SD or UART
- sound-card capable of playing the tetris theme
- touch-panel support
Finally we will proof, that Hack-9 is powerful enough to run serious Jack-Application like Pong and Tetris!
In every project folder/subfolder you find a file README.md containing specifications and implementation details.
... This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. ...
---Morpheus
Producing the Hack hardware can be done in two ways.
The first way is to "translate" the .hdl files to .v files.
This is dubbed the chip way, and will culminate to the Hack_chip directory.
By only translating the .hdl files one will miss to learn some of the beauty of the Verilog language.
Hence, the second way of making the Hack machine is to write the logic in native Verilog.
Chips made in this way are linked to the Hack_verilog directory.
In each project there will therefore be a chip_* version and verilog_* version of the hardware.
Instructions are only given for the chip_* part.
Get the hardware and install the tools.
Build minimal running version of Hack-CPU connected to two buttons and two LEDs as input/output.
Add UART support so Hack can send and receive bytes at runtime.
First test of Virtual machine running small Jack-compiled programs like echo.
Hack writes and reads data to external SRAM-chip so bigger Hack-programms can be stored (64K x 16 bit).
Boot logic can switch instruction memory between internal ROM (boot-mode) and external SRAM (run-mode).
Hack now has 3840 x 16 bit of RAM for stack/heap, 256 x 16 bit of ROM preloaded with bootloader and 64K x 16 bit of programmable instruction memory.
It's time to implement Jack-OS and run application like Average.
Connect Screen MOD-2.8LCD-RTP with 320x240 pixels in 16 bit color depth. Rewrite parts of OS Screen.jack and Output.jack. Play Pong!
Add support for resistive touch panel of MOD-2.8LCD-RTP. Just because it's there.
Build "mini sound-card" capable of playing Tetris-theme.
Add SD-card reader MOD-SDMMC. Re-implement bootloader capable of loading Jack-compiled code from SD-Card directly into SRAM. Play Tetris!
- Noam Nisan and Shimon Schocken: Visit Nand2Tetris and learn to build a modern general-purpose computer system from ground up.
- Olimex Ltd: Buy your hardware from the Company with highest number of registered OSHW projects :)
- Wolf Clifford: The master of open source FPGA with iCE40 and Project IceStorm
- Jesús Arroyo Torrens, Juan González (Obijuan): Open source ecosystem for open FPGA boards APIO
- Juan González-Gomez (Obijuan): Lern Verilog with open-FPGA-Verilog-tutorial, best tutorial!
- Icons made by Those icons from Flaticon
For questions or comments write an email to [email protected]