--- In f..., Jon Kirwan wrote:
>
> On Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:04:44 -0000, you wrote:
>
> >--- In f..., Hellwig Geisse wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Richard,
> >>
> >> > As you may recall, I got the IBM 1130 emulation to run on that board

Is the 1130 emulation available for download any where? At present I am using SIMH with hacks to run my plotter, but VHDL would be more interesting.
> >> > and since then I have also gotten a PDP11-xx to run. The xx would be
> >> > -40 if I had the MMU working. As it is, it runs RTL fairly well. I
> >> > want the -40 version so I can run Unix V6.
> >>
> >> very nice! If I remember correctly, the MMU of the -40 isn't
> >> that complicated, so that the effort of implementing it should
> >> be moderate.
> >
> >There is a project http://shimizu-lab.dt.u-tokai.ac.jp/pop11.html that
> >has all the details for the PDP11-40.
> >
> >The logic is written in another HDL named SFL. It's a wonderful
> >language but, for whatever reason, when the provided VHDL translator
> >converted the code, I couldn't get XST to accept it. There is also
> >the problem familiar to all compiled code: the output is nearly
> >unreadable. Hundreds of nets all similarly named with a numeric
> >suffix.
>
> Wasn't the link for a verilog translator? I assume XST accepts that
> but the sfl2vl was noted as verilog, not VHDL, on that web page. Does
> sfl2vl produce VHDL, as well?
>
> >I think I'll look at the PDP11-40 simulator and see how they did the
> >MMU.
> >
> >
> >I'll get back to the PDP-11 in a month or two.
> > I'm wondering where one might come across an old PDP-11/45 or
> PDP-11/70 front panel. The switch system, at the very least, would be
> nice to have. Probably hard to come across, though.
>
> Jon
>

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--- In f..., John Kent wrote:
>
> Hi Tommy,
>
> I don't really like using my Visa card on the internet. I'm always
> worried about key loggers. I do run internet security software, but I'm
> still worried about it.

Around here, our exposure to fraudulent transactions is limited to $50. Beyond that, the bank eats it (and passes it along...).

I use my Visa at least a couple of dozen times per month for online transactions and I have been doing it for as long as there have been online suppliers. I don't give it a moment's thought.

Richard

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Hi Brett,

Yes ... I was thinking of that when I wrote my post.

John.

Brett Wildermoth wrote:
> With the australian dollar so strong right now, it has never been a
> better time to buy from amazon.....
>
> Brett Wildermoth BEng (ME) MPhil
> Lecturer - Griffith School of Engineering
> Email: B...@griffith.edu.au
>
>

--
http://www.johnkent.com.au
http://members.optusnet.com.au/jekent

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With the australian dollar so strong right now, it has never been a
better time to buy from amazon.....

Brett Wildermoth BEng (ME) MPhil
Lecturer - Griffith School of Engineering
Email: B...@griffith.edu.au

On 18/10/2009, at 1:42 PM, John Kent wrote:

> Hi Tommy,
>
> I don't really like using my Visa card on the internet. I'm always
> worried about key loggers. I do run internet security software, but
> I'm
> still worried about it.
>
> I can get the book through the RMIT University Bookshop here in
> Melbourne Australia, but I have a local bookshop that supports a
> number
> of community activities that I am involved with, so I prefer to buy
> books through them, even though they are a little more expensive.
> Buying
> books from Amazon, you have to factor in exchange rates and postage,
> which makes them a bit more expensive than the prices listed on the
> web.
>
> The Least Recently Used algorithm is not hard to understand. I just
> could not match up the letters in the acronym although I should have
> thought about it before posting. I have done a paper design on a
> associative cache using LRU some years ago. It used a shift register
> for
> the address and a multiplexer which routed the address back to the
> head
> of the FIFO every time a hit was detected. Cache addresses that fell
> out
> the end of the shift register were written back to SDRAM if they were
> dirty. As I think you mentioned, you needed to maintain a separate RAM
> for each of the cache lines to flag if the cache has been written to.
> Writing a flag to each individual word obviously does not help you
> determine if the cache line is dirty. I also included a unique token
> for
> each address in the associative cache to index the tag (?) cache. The
> token is recycled if the cache entry is written back to memory.
>
> John.
>
> Tommy Thorn wrote:
> > The H&P is considered the "bible" of computer architecture. Amazon
> is your friend.
> >
> >
> > Tommy
> >
> > --
> http://www.johnkent.com.au
> http://members.optusnet.com.au/jekent
>

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Hi Tommy,

I don't really like using my Visa card on the internet. I'm always
worried about key loggers. I do run internet security software, but I'm
still worried about it.

I can get the book through the RMIT University Bookshop here in
Melbourne Australia, but I have a local bookshop that supports a number
of community activities that I am involved with, so I prefer to buy
books through them, even though they are a little more expensive. Buying
books from Amazon, you have to factor in exchange rates and postage,
which makes them a bit more expensive than the prices listed on the web.

The Least Recently Used algorithm is not hard to understand. I just
could not match up the letters in the acronym although I should have
thought about it before posting. I have done a paper design on a
associative cache using LRU some years ago. It used a shift register for
the address and a multiplexer which routed the address back to the head
of the FIFO every time a hit was detected. Cache addresses that fell out
the end of the shift register were written back to SDRAM if they were
dirty. As I think you mentioned, you needed to maintain a separate RAM
for each of the cache lines to flag if the cache has been written to.
Writing a flag to each individual word obviously does not help you
determine if the cache line is dirty. I also included a unique token for
each address in the associative cache to index the tag (?) cache. The
token is recycled if the cache entry is written back to memory.

John.

Tommy Thorn wrote:
> The H&P is considered the "bible" of computer architecture. Amazon is your friend.
> Tommy
>
>

--
http://www.johnkent.com.au
http://members.optusnet.com.au/jekent

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Norm asked:
I only asked because of several reviews like:
"This book has a lot of information, especially with the appendices on CD
and in the back of the book. If you are new to Architecture, I wouldn't
recommend it. Get a simpler book...maybe by the same authors, just the
"prerequisite" for this one."
Norm

In the past I have also recommended Computer Organization by P&H e.g.
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Organization-Design-Fourth-Architecture/dp/01
23744938 as a first book in computer architecture, particularly for
self-study. At least compared to CA:AQA, it offers a more gentle
introduction, e.g. to the details in the design of a pipelined RISC
processor.

Jan.

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--- In f..., Tommy Thorn wrote:
>
> --- On Wed, 10/14/09, normnet2003 wrote:
> > From: normnet2003
> > Tommy Thorn wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The H&P is considered the "bible" of computer
> > architecture. Amazon is your friend.
> >
> > Is their a prep book for before "Computer Architecture: A
> > Quantitative Approach"?
>
> I don't understand. The book I cited, http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Architecture-Quantitative-Approach-4th/dp/0123704901/ref=dp_ob_image_bk, _is_ "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach".
>
> One of the things that is appreciable about this book is that it's kept reasonable well up to date, though a lot of material from the 3rd ed was dropped in the 4th. I have both and look to both for coverage on topics.
>
> A lot of other books have been mentioned in this thread. I'm sure they are fine too. I also have "classic" text and some that are merely "old", but for state of the art I haven't found anything better than the above.
> What happened to the original topic, on DDR SDRAM controllers? So far the only I've heard of is the one from OpenCores.
>
> Tommy
>
I only asked because of several reviews like:
"This book has a lot of information, especially with the appendices on CD and in the back of the book. If you are new to Architecture, I wouldn't recommend it. Get a simpler book...maybe by the same authors, just the "prerequisite" for this one."

Norm

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--- On Wed, 10/14/09, normnet2003 wrote:
> From: normnet2003
> Tommy Thorn wrote:
> > >
> > > The H&P is considered the "bible" of computer
> architecture. Amazon is your friend.
>
> Is their a prep book for before "Computer Architecture: A
> Quantitative Approach"?

I don't understand. The book I cited, http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Architecture-Quantitative-Approach-4th/dp/0123704901/ref=dp_ob_image_bk, _is_ "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach".

One of the things that is appreciable about this book is that it's kept reasonable well up to date, though a lot of material from the 3rd ed was dropped in the 4th. I have both and look to both for coverage on topics.

A lot of other books have been mentioned in this thread. I'm sure they are fine too. I also have "classic" text and some that are merely "old", but for state of the art I haven't found anything better than the above.
What happened to the original topic, on DDR SDRAM controllers? So far the only I've heard of is the one from OpenCores.

Tommy

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--- In f..., Nigel.Gunton@... wrote:

> Yes, this one is worth tracking down, it's a good introduction. BLUE also
> bears more than a passing resemblance to the Apollo Guidance Computer.
>

I bought a CD on eBay that documents the AGC. There is at least one project on the Internet that implements a version of it but it's HUGE (physically).

I have been thinking about implementing a version in an FPGA. The problem is what to actually DO with it. It's not like I have a bunch of retro-rockets out in the garage. Still, it would be a good addition to the NASA Space Shuttle "Liftoff" CD/game.

The control panel is pretty easy. A few 7 segment displays and a keypad.
> Another introductory text which has some good examples is Carpinelli's
> 'Computer Systems Organization and Architecture' but it's not particularly
> cheap, even second hand. The sections on arithmetic and cache are good
> with RTL descriptions and schematics.

Alibris has copies from $25 I look forward to reading it!

>
> Also secondhand and possibly possibly worth a look is Feldman &
> Retter's 1994 "Computer Architecture, A designer's text based on a generic
> RISC" ($6)

Again, this is something I will enjoy reading.

I really appreciate all of the recommendations for my library but it's clearly gotten out of hand. I still have my original "8080 Microcomputer Systems User's Manual" from 1975. And everything in between... Some of the books are classics, others are just old. The problem is separating them.

Richard

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