I have wondered this way too often. So could you (or anyone else) finally explain to me, how does software emulation (UAE) become "hardware support", when basically the same SOFTWARE is running on a different kind of chip (FPGA instead of "generic" processor)?
Because an FPGA doesn't run any software; it is
not a CPU. FPGA stands for Field Programmable Gate Array. These devices are essentially a large array of gates with programmable interconnects. On power up these devices read in a bitstream that enables or disables interconnects between individual gates. Once this is done, the gate array operates as whatever circuit has been programmed in. It does
not execute code (unless the circuit that has been programmed in is a CPU). There's more to it than that, but that's the basics.
So, you program a hardware design into an FPGA, not a software program. This array of interconnected logic gates could also be put into an ASIC, or form the basis for a fully custom integrated circuit. The bottom line is that it's a
hardware design.
This is why I think that it's wrong to call something like Minimig an emulator. It's a hardware reimplementation of the Amiga OCS chipset.
Hans
