[Coco] coco fpga

[Mark McDougall]

On 5/10/2014 12:14 PM, Camillus Blockx wrote:

> That is why I suggested earlier to have the obsolete parts first in fpga,
> a enhanced GIME and or SAM ( coco1,2), and maybe more people can build
> smaller projects in smaller ( read cheaper ) FPGA chips. The idea's are
> as the sky's limit.
>
> Enhanced faster PIA, UART, parallel port, real rs232, USB, etc etc.
>
> Just something you plug in in place of the old chip.

Some of what you mention would be more suited (and more economical) as CPLD 
implementations, rather than FPGA.

The biggest problem with programmable logic is the level conversion 
required, not to mention the power supplies for the device itself. That gets 
quite complex and quite expensive very quickly as I/O count rises. There are 
a few 5V compatible CPLD's left (eg. MAX3000 series) but even they are on 
the brink of going end-of-life as the latest versions of programmable 
software no longer support them.

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"