Subversion Repositories w11

- trunk (2015-03-01: svn rev 29(oc) 655(wfjm); untagged w11a_V0.64)  +++++++++

  - Preface

    - The w11 project started on a Spartan-3 based Digilent S3board, and soon

      moved on to a Nexys2 with much better connectivity. Next step was the

      Spartan-6 based Nexys3. Now is time to continue with 7-Series FPGAs.

    - When Vivado started in 2013 it was immediately clear that the architecture

      is far superior to ISE. But tests with the first versions were sobering,

      the w11a design either didn't compile at all, or produced faulty synthesis

      results. In 2014 Vivado matured, and the current version 2014.4 works

      fine with the w11a code base.

    - The original Nexys4 board allowed to quickly port Nexys3 version because

      both have the same memory chip. The newer Nexys4 DDR will be addressed

      later.

    - The BRAM capacity of FPGAs increased significantly over time. The low

      cost Basys3 board with the second smallest Artix-7 (XC7A35T) has 200 KB

      BRAM. That allows to implement a purely BRAM based w11a system with

      176 kB memory. Not enough for 2.11BSD, but for many other less demanding

      OS available for a PDP11.

    - The Nexyx4 and Basys3 have 16 LEDs. Not quite the 'blinking lights'

      console of the classic 11/45 and 11/70, but enough to display the

      well known OS typical light patterns the veterans remember so well.

    - With a new design tool, a new FPGA generation, two new boards, and a

      new interface for the rlink connection that some of the code and tools

      base had to be re-organized.

    - Last but not least: finally access to a bit bigger disks: RL11 support

    - Many changes, some known issues, some rough edges may still lurke around

  - Summary

    - added support for Vivado

    - added support for Nexys4 and Basys3 boards

    - added RL11 disk support

    - lots of documentation updated

  - New features

    - new directory trees for

      - rtl/bplib/basys3            - support for Digilent Basys3 board

      - rtl/bplib/nexys4            - support for Digilent Nexys4 board

      - rtl/make_viv                - make includes for Vivado

    - new files

      - tools/bin/xviv_ghdl_unisim  - ghdl compile Vivado UNISIM & UNIMACRO libs

    - new modules

      - rtl/ibus/ibdr_rl11          - ibus controller for RL11

      - rtl/vlib/rlink/ioleds_sp1c  - io activity leds for rlink+serport_1clk

      - rtl/vlib/xlib

        - s7_cmt_sfs_gsim             - Series-7 CMT: simple vhdl model

        - s7_cmt_sfs_unisim           - Series-7 CMT: wrapper for UNISIM

      - rtl/w11a

        - pdp11_bram_memctl           - simple BRAM based memctl

        - pdp11_dspmux                - mux for hio display

        - pdp11_ledmux                - mux for hio leds

        - pdp11_statleds              - status led generator

      - tools/src/librw11/

        - Rw11*RL11                   - classes for RL11 disk handling

      - tools/src/librwxxtpp

        - RtclRw11*RL11               - tcl iface for RL11 disk handling

    - new systems

      - rtl/sys_gen/tst_rlink       - rlink tester

        - basys3/sys_tst_rlink_b3     - for Basys3

        - nexys4/sys_tst_rlink_n4     - for Nexys4

      - rtl/sys_gen/tst_serloop     - serport loop tester

        - nexys4/sys_tst_serloop_n4   - for Nexys4

      - rtl/sys_gen/tst_snhumanio   - human I/O tester

        - basys3/sys_tst_snhumanio_b3 - for Basys3

        - nexys4/sys_tst_snhumanio_n4 - for Nexys4

      - rtl/sys_gen/w11a            - w11a

        - basys3/sys_w11a_b3          - small BRAM only (176 kB memory)

        - nexys4/sys_w11a_n4          - with full 4 MB memory using cram

    - new oskits

      - tools/oskit/211bsd_rl       - new oskit for 2.11BSD on RL02

      - tools/oskit/rt11-53_rl      - new oskit for RT11 V5.3 on RL02

      - tools/oskit/xxdp_rl         - new oskit for XXDP 22 and 25 on RL02

  - Changes

    - renames

      - ensure that old ISE and new Vivado co-exists, ensure telling names

        - rtl/make                        -> make_ise

        - rtl/bplib/bpgen/sn_4x7segctl    -> sn_7segctl

        - tools/bin/isemsg_filter         -> xise_msg_filter

        - tools/bin/xilinx_ghdl_unisim    -> xise_ghdl_unisim

        - tools/bin/xilinx_ghdl_simprim   -> xise_ghdl_simprim

    - retired files

      - rtl/bplib/fx2lib

        - fx2_2fifoctl_as    - obsolete, wasn't actively used since long

      - tools/bin

        - set_ftdi_lat       - obsolete, since kernel 2.6.32 the default is 1 ms

        - xilinx_vhdl_chop   - obsolete, since ISE 11 sources come chopped

    - functional changes

      - $RETROBASE/Makefile           - re-structured, many new targets

      - rtl/bplib/bpgen

        - sn_7segctl                  - handle also 8 digit displays

        - sn_humanio                  - configurable SWI and DSP width

        - sn_humanio_rbus             - configurable SWI and DSP width

      - rtl/vlib/serport

        - serport_1clock              - export fractional part of divider

      - rtl/ibus

        - ibdr_maxisys                - add RL11 (ibdr_rl11)

      - rtl/sys_gen/w11a/*

        - sys_w11a_*                  - use new led and dsp control modules

      - tools/src/librlink

        - RlinkConnect                - drop LogOpts, indivitual getter/setter

        - RlinkPortTerm               - support custom baud rates (5M,6M,10M,12M)

      - tools/src/librtcltools

        - RtclGetList                 - add '?' (key list) and '*' (kv list)

        - RtclSetList                 - add '?' (key list)

        - RlogFile                    - Open(): now with cout/cerr support

      - tools/src/librlinktpp

        - RtclRlinkConnect            - drop config cmd, use get/set cmd

        - RtclRlinkPort               - drop config cmd, use get/set cmd

      - tools/src/librw11

        - Rw11Rdma                    - PreExecCB() with nwdone and nwnext

        - Rw11UnitDisk                - add Nwrd2Nblk()

      - tools/src/librwxxtpp

        - RtclRw11CntlFactory         - add RL11 support

      - tools/bin

        - xise_ghdl_unisim            - handle also UNIMACRO lib

        - vbomconv                    - handle Vivado flows too

  - Bug fixes

    - tools/src/librw11

      - Rw11CntlRK11                  - revise RdmaPostExecCB() logic

  - Known issues

    - V0.64-7: ghdl simulated OS boots via ti_w11 (-n4 ect options) fail due to

        a flow control issue (likely since V0.63).

    - V0.64-6: IO delays still unconstraint in vivado. All critical IOs use

        explicitly IOB flops, thus timing well defined.

    - V0.64-5: w11a_tb_guide.txt covers only ISE based tests (see also V0.64-4).

    - V0.64-4: No support for the Vivado simulator (xsim) yet. With ghdl only

        functional simulations, post synthesis (_ssim) fails to compile.

    - V0.64-3: Highest baud rate with basys3 and nexys4 is 10 MBaud. 10 MBaud

        is not supported according to FTDI, but works. 12 MBaud in next release.

    - V0.64-2: rlink throughput on basys3/nexys4 limited by serial port stack

        round trip times. Will be overcome by libusb based custom driver.

    - V0.64-1: The large default transfer size for disk accesses leads to bad

        throughput in the DL11 emulation for low speed links, like the

        460kBaud the S3board is limited too. Will be overcome by a DL11

        controller with more buffering.

    - V0.62-2: rlink v4 error recovery not yet implemented, will crash on error

    - V0.62-1: Command lists aren't split to fit in retransmit buffer size

        {last two issues not relevant for w11 backend over USB usage because

        the backend produces proper command lists and the USB channel is

        usually error free}