>>105905246
Originally it was done entirely as a simulated project in logisim, basically a personal project to see if I could do it (I had studied computer architecture at uni, which means I should have been able to).
Plus, it is a cool and interesting project per-se, designing an instruction set and everything.
Looking at the source files, it was around winter 2019 or so.
Pic related shows a later design iteration.
Other than the circuit itself, I wrote (in Python) a rudimentary assembler which would compile my assembly source into rom images.
I wasn't aware of Ben Eater's youtube series at the time, but I came out with an architecture which is fairly similar to his own. (much later I copied some of his hardware design choices, such as picking the 74LS173 register).
The project basically stayed a pretty little simulation until late this April; I had been toying with the idea that, with some simplifications, it would perhaps be possible to build it physically.
(i.e. the overpowered fantasy ALU had to go, replaced with a design using 4 8K ROMs).
I decided to wire it up all by hand on protoboards; it's a pleasant pastime, but the final product tends to turn into a fine mess of wires.
Thanks for reading my blog
