FPGA for dummies

[Mizar]

I find this philosophical argument about Emulation vs Real hardware equity funny.

Either via a software emulator or an FPGA, there is a recreation of the original functionality of the old chips. Neither is more "real" than the other and both "emulate" (meaning: appear to be like the original hardware from a user and software perspective) the Amiga.

I've been having a laugh while reading this thread too.

Yes, either software emulation or FPGA recreates the original functionality.  However, only the FPGA recreates the original CIRCUITRY (and is actually more precise therefore).  We're only talking the internal makeup of the computer that makes it what it is and how it works here.  The DNA of the Amiga... as long as this is replicated how can this be called mere "emulation"?  This is definitely more "real" than just software emulation on an alien platform.  It's not emulation, it's cloning, if of an ephemeral nature due to the hardware being used.

And it's just semantics that some are using "emulation" in a broader sense, to include anything and everything that is not the original Amiga hardware.  If it has any difference in the technology of the hardware, if it doesn't have anything stamped on the chips that you can visually read it's a 68000/3.1 ROM/Denise/Agnus/etc., or that it doesn't have the original external case and look of the Amiga, then some insist it's not really an Amiga, just an "emulated" one.  And ignoring the fact that electronically it is identical!  Not original Amiga, but not emulated, that is actually a clone.  To use the word "emulate" for anything not original, is too confusing, inaccurate, and broad of a definition.

The comparison between RAM and ROM to FPGA and hard-wired chips is very accurate.  But consider another analogy: authentic English speaking or translated English.  One is the real deal, the other is not.  Translated can't have quite the precise same meaning as the original, much like emulation isn't precisely the same.  Someone Japanese speaks in their native tongue and a translator converts it to English.  This is like emulation.  Someone British speaks English, of the ethnicity of original English speakers.  This is the "real" thing.  Someone Japanese speaks English, born in the UK and has no Japanese accent.  Is this translated English (emulation), just because they're not of the original English speaking ethnicity, or is it "real" English?  It's the same thing as arguing the Japanese native-English speaker is translated English to argue the FPGA Amiga is emulating a real Amiga.  They're both doing the same exact thing, but they just LOOK different.  It's what's going on under the hood that matters most.

[Mizar]

Sorry, I seem to be behind in reading this informative, fascinating, foolish, and ludicrous, massive thread.  The above adjectives applying in a non mutually exclusive fashion, depending who is speaking.

If I made a parallel switch emulator, where you have two kinds of switches (normal and inverted), that behave like relays and have four pins, then how difficult would it be to translate such virtual circuitry to FPGA circuitry?

The emulation doesn't emulate electricity and simply uses 0 and 1 as signals, and signals are never amplified in any way.

The only emulation being attempted here is to speak techno babble, while lacking any fundamental understanding of the principles or technology being spoken of.

My roof lamp emulates light..

:roflmao:  No kidding, that's how much sense he/she was making!

Very informative thread once a guy sorts out the arguing and dick waving, hehe.

Didn't know a heck of a lot about FPGA implementations before this read.

Yes, I quite agree, after sorting out the fools who like to show off, those speaking about what they know were most enlightening.  I didn't even know there was such a technology as FPGA before this thread.  Fascinating, a volatile circuit configuration chip!  What RAM is to data, FPGAs are to circuitry (or what CD-Rs are to data, in some cases).  And it makes sense, having played around with manually configurable Radio Shack circuit kits when was a lad, and knowing the fundamental function of electronic components (particularly transistors), that this could be done.