MCL64 in cartridge form?

MicroCoreLabs / Projects

Ted Fried's MicroCore Labs Projects which include microsequencer-based FPGA cores and emulators for the 8088, 8086, 8051, 6502, 68000, Z80, Risc-V, and also Typewriter and EPROM Emulator projects. MCL51, MCL64, MCL65, MCL65+, MCL68, MCL86, MCL86+, MCL86jr, MCLR5, MCLZ8

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MCL64 in cartridge form? #22

Open Barkfin opened 10 months ago

Barkfin commented 10 months ago

I'm mostly interested in the SuperCPU potential of the MCL64. Today I just found out about the RAD cartridge project: puts a Raspberry Pi 3A/3B or Zero 2 on-board a cartridge and it supersedes the 6510. What would it take to put the MCL64 onto a cartridge board?

MicroCoreLabs commented 10 months ago

The Teensy 4.1 may be short a few GPIOs which are on the cartridge slot, but maybe this could be overcome with a degree of multiplexing. The bus interface code would also need to be changed to support the C64 cartridge slot rather than the 6510's bus interface. There would be some other challenges but probably a do-able project.

I was able to achieve a great amount of acceleration replacing the 6510 with the MCL64, but the downside is that most C64's do not have the CPU socketed! :)