More PhizzyB and Beboputer Projects! |
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| Another project that's in progress as we speak is our forthcoming book Bebop Calculates Cunningly (An Unconventional Guide to Computer Arithmetic). A short-form version of the currently planned contents of this book are as follows: |
| Chapter 1: | Computers, Calculators, Beboputers, and Bebopulators |
| Chapter 2: | Integer Arithmetic |
| Chapter 3: | Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) |
| Chapter 4: | Floating Point Arithmetic |
| Chapter 5: | Further Experiments |
| Chapter 6: | A Sort of History of Calculators |
| Labs 1: | Laboratories associated with Chapter 1 |
| Labs 2: | Laboratories associated with Chapter 2 |
| Labs 3: | Laboratories associated with Chapter 3 |
| Labs 4: | Laboratories associated with Chapter 4 |
| Appendix A: | Installing your Beboputer |
| Appendix B: | File Formats and Stuff |
| Appendix C: | Addressing Modes and Instruction Set |
| Appendix D: | Assembler and Assembly Language |
| Appendix E: | Fixed Point Representations |
| Glossary | |
| Index |
| Bebop
Calculates Cunningly is
also based on the Beboputer Virtual Computer. However, in this case the main
device is that of a calculator interface. The book will introduce the concepts of
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division using integer, binary coded decimal,
and floating point representations. All of these functions will be implemented in the Beboputer's
assembly language during the course of the various interactive laboratories. In the case
of the floating point chapter, we will design our own floating point representations and
discuss advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs between alternative representations. Furthermore, we're planning on covering more complex functions such as sin, cos, tan, log, and so forth as supplemental papers that we'll add to our web site (including the assembly source code) for readers to download and use (we're also planning to publish user-contributed examples on our Web site). Last but not least, we're going to design a special interface for the PhizzyB that will allow you to implement your calculator in the real world. We're working on this book as we speak, and will be announcing its availability in the not-so-distant future. If you're interested in being kept updated you can email us at info@maxmon.com asking us to include you in the email distribution list for any future news updates. |
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| Well first of all our book Bebop to the
Boolean Boogie (An Unconventional Guide to Electronics) is poised to be used in
the digital electronics course at Hull next year. Second, lecturer Rob Miles has created a 5-credit (10-lecture) course tentatively titled "Computing the Bebop Fun Way" based on Bebop BYTES Back (An Unconventional Guide to Computers) and the Beboputer. Also of interest, is the fact that the Beboputer's CPU is going to act as the target circuit for lecturer Ian Bell's VHDL modeling class (see also the section on our forthcoming Beboputer Microprocessor Databook above. Last but not least, the University has two Beboputer-related final year projects slated for the 1998-1999 course as follows (you can find our more about this project list at http://www.enc.hull.ac.uk/EE/Proj98.htm): |
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| Project
71. "Bebop" in VHDL The Beboputer is a virtual computer which forms the basis of the book Bebop BYTES Back. It is used to teach digital and computing concepts. At present the computer exists in the form of software simulations on the PC and 8051 processors. The aim of this project is to create the Beboputer in VHDL with a view to implementation on actual hardware. Some work has already been performed as this work has been the basis of a VLSI design project. |
Project
72. "Bebop" and Virtual Devices The Beboputer is a virtual computer which forms the basis of the book Bebop BYTES Back. It is used to teach digital and computing concepts. At present the computer exists in the form of software simulations on the PC and 8051 processors. The aim of this project is to develop "virtual devices" which can be simulated on the PC. These will then be created in hardware to allow students to perform the design and testing of real time control systems using virtual and real hardware. |
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| Deliverables from the project will include: | Deliverables from the project will include: | |
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A functional simulation in VHDL of the Bebop architecture. |
Software simulation of the devices using graphical display, on the PC platform. |
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Partition of the Beboputer into functional blocks. |
Physical implementations of the hardware, on both the PC and the 8051 platforms. |
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| Implementation of the blocks at gate level. | Creation of appropriate driver software. | |
| Supervisor:
Ian Bell Advisor: R.S. Miles |
Supervisor: Rob Miles | |
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