DE1/DE2 I/O Board

[tcdev]

I managed to start on the I/O board for the DE1/DE2 platforms.

At this very early stage it looks like you can select:

2xNES -or- 2xSNES -or- 2xPSX, -and-
2xDC, -and-
2xN64 or 2xNGC, -and-
1xAtari/C64/Amiga or Genesis/Megadrive, -and-
2xPS/2

If I add a micro, there might be a 2nd Atari/C64/Aimga port along with analogue data from 2xCoco, 2xApple II, Amiga mouse...and USB... and RTC.. :cool:

[vanfanel]

I would be happy enough with Atari norm joystick and the interface to connect a 1541 ULTIMATE to use the C64 core: are you including this last interface?

[tcdev]

I would be happy enough with Atari norm joystick and the interface to connect a 1541 ULTIMATE to use the C64 core: are you including this last interface?
Sorry, yes, it will include an IEC pass-thru...

Did some schematic entry today. Went through a few revisions already - GPIO pin count is the limiting factor when you have so many joystick options.

Looks like:
Atari/Genesis options are mutually-exclusive, since they require jumpers
2xNES or 2xSNES or 2xPSX or 2xGenesis and
2xAtari (if above not genesis) and
2xN64 or 2xNGC and
2xDC and
2xPS/2 and
IEC pass-thru and
(optionally)
2xCoco and
2xApple and
Amiga Mouse??? and
USB device and
RTC

... this will probably change while I'm juggling pins... :o

Each group of options above shares pin functions.
The Atari/Genesis joysticks are read from a shift-register via SPI to reduce required pin count - they alone required almost as many inputs as the rest combined! :eek:
The Coco, Apple & USB will only be available on versions loaded with a microprocessor. Coco & Apple use the D/A in the micro, USB obviously uses the USB HOST/OTG port. Might also add another SD card on the micro?!?

Ummm... I think that's about it so far...

I'm also think of doing a JAMMA board - flying leads for audio/video and not powered from the JAMMA connector... just read the control panel via GPIO... would be nice to finally see Space Invaders on my JAMMA cabinet!!! :cool:

[Talus]

Amiga mouse support seems a bit pointless to me. You can easily find equally crappy PS/2 or serial port mice for that authentic "old" feeling ;)

[tcdev]

Amiga mouse support seems a bit pointless to me. You can easily find equally crappy PS/2 or serial port mice for that authentic "old" feeling ;)
Yes, I dropped support for it today in fact. I was only doing it if it came "for free" so-to-speak.

Today I added the micro, with Apple II and Coco joysticks, RTC and USB host.

Still got a few more ideas to play around with the design, then I can finish off the "boring bits" like proper level conversion, power and integrity...

[tcdev]

2xNES or 2xSNES or 2xPSX or 2xGenesis and
Genesis input is now available with NES/SNES/PSX inputs!

To confirm, there are 20 possible inputs, and you can have up to 12 inputs active at any one time. This is not by design, but rather the I/O standards pretty much dictates it. There are 4 analogue inputs, and they're all available at once simply because there's ample I/O on the micro.

The idea is to allow incremental build options...

At a minimum, you could get PS/2 plus N64,NGC support with a bare PCB and some resistors (and connectors). That's enough for mouse/joystick support for platforms such as Minimig & Zet, and analogue/digital joystick support for any platform really. So aside from PCB cost, it's pretty cheap.

Add a couple of cheap shift registers, some more resistors and a couple of D9 connectors, and you've got Atari support.

Add some level shifters, more resistors, and you have NES/SNES/PSX/Genesis/DC support and C64 IEC bus support.

For Apple/Coco analogue joysticks, you need the micro. Adding the micro also gives options for RTC (for micro platforms), USB gamepad, and 2nd SD/MMC card for floppy/hard disk emulation as well.

[vanfanel]

Any news on this add-on board for the DE1?
I would buy one today for the new Minimig core :D

[tcdev]

Still under development, sorry. Work has kicked up a notch for the moment, so I haven't had a lot of spare time. I'll announce progress here when it happens.:o

[vanfanel]

Sorry to ask again, but time has passed and I was wondering if this project is still alive...my DE1 could really use your I/O board :)

[tcdev]

Sorry there hasn't been much news on this site lately.

Due to other commitments which have required pretty much all of my spare time, I have been unable to dedicate any time at all to PACEDEV over the last month or so. This will probably continue for another few weeks at least. I'm hoping to get some spare time over the xmas break to look at some aspects of the project.

As for the I/O board; I'd still like to do it but it has evolved into a bit of a beast with the number of options I've added. It also doubles as an SD/MMC adapter with an external micro to assist in floppy/hard disk emulation. These will be optional loads, so a bare PCB with a few passive components will still be sufficient for some controllers. Add a few cheap ICs and you get most of the functionality.

Unfortunately I can't promise anything soon. It was originally intended as a quick turn-around product but didn't quite turn out as planned.

[MiniMorph]

If you are going to add a Micro, maybe add a Cortex M3 one with Ethernet. Maybe a TI/ Luminary Micro one???

I will help with the software. It would be possible to load things in to the core directly from an Internet FTP Site :D

I have a Luminary Dev kit I can send you if you like!

I need something to get me back in to FPGA.

A BBC Micro with an Internet Connection would be an awesome thought!

[tcdev]

If you are going to add a Micro, maybe add a Cortex M3 one with Ethernet. Maybe a TI/ Luminary Micro one???
We've got an existing project here at work with an ST Micro Cortex M3, so I'm using the same device on the I/O board as we have a close working relationship with an ST supplier. We also have a dev kit for it... but thanks anyway, much appreciated! Hadn't considered a need for Ethernet, but I might keep it in mind...

A BBC Micro with an Internet Connection would be an awesome thought!
Heh, that'd go down pretty well in some circles, I think!

[Talus]

So the I/O board will contain a microcontroller that is likely to be more powerful than the system it is connected to? seems wrong somehow ;)

[MiniMorph]

Well ST do STM32's with Ethernet on. The only downside is that they need a separate PHY I think.

I am involved with two STM32 designs at my work.

The important thing to bear in mind for a project like this is a Free Toolchain.

There are quite a few now.

Codesourcery Lite is the big daddy of Free toolchains for Cortex M3 but there are others.

Merry Christmas, one and all!