FPGA Replay Board

[Everblue]

I think it's doable.

It's when you need cosinustransform in FPGA that things get slightly more complicated..

You need what?

BTW are there any good videos of Arcade FPGA running a few amiga games? I can't find anything decent.

[Lord Aga]

What I meant is this (all hypotetical ok ):
Say an Amiga game has a resolution of 240p, and I connect the ArcadeFPGA to my 1080p. Instead of feeding the TV 240p and let it upscale, would it be possible have the ArcadeFPGA to quadruple the resolution and leave the extra remaining pixels "empty" (black border.
So, let's do the maths....
240p x 4 = 960p
1080p - 960 = 120p / 2 = 60 extra pixels on top of bottom of the screen.
In the case of using a 720p resolution, it won't be possible to have the resolution quadrupled, because it wouldn't fit, so instead we'd do:
240p x 3 = 720p
In the above scenario the picture would fit pixel perfect without any margins
Is the above possible, or it is a sign that I had too much wine during today's dinner?
Thanks!
PS The idea is to avoid using the TV's upscaler which usually suck

This is actually a big deal.
If done this way as Nostromo suggests, it would give us the best possible picture quality. It would be blocky, but crystal clear. Much better than TFT screen upscaler which would lead to a jaggy-blurry picture.
Also, Workbench resolution as 512p x 2 = 1024p
Great great stuff if possible.

[freqmax]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_cosine_transform

[Everblue]

This is actually a big deal.
If done this way as Nostromo suggests, it would give us the best possible picture quality. It would be blocky, but crystal clear. Much better than TFT screen upscaler which would lead to a jaggy-blurry picture.
Also, Workbench resolution as 512p x 2 = 1024p
Great great stuff if possible.

I guess it can be done by software? On the core? And well you can always have some image post-processing features such as scanlines to soften the pixel edges.

[freqmax]

You have approximately 81,17 ns to process each pixel which at least will involve one trigonometric function
(equal to 12 MHz)

[amigadave]

Can we get a spec sheet posted on your website MikeJ for the components that are to be installed on the daughter board.  I don't think there is a list anywhere that describes it in detail, or I just have not found it.

IIRC, from the picture of it, it has 3 USB ports, additional RAM, but I don't know how much is planned, and the Ethernet Port.

A custom graphics card that could use already existing CyberGraphX4 or Picasso96 drivers, would be a very nice addition for the Replay board and daughter card.  Is that something that is even possible?

[ShapeShifter]

MikeJ will be able to answer in more depth, I'm sure, but my understanding is that the output modes selectable, is something which is entirely determined by the core itself, and then any drivers written in AmigaOS to support what the core supports.

The Replay Board itself is capable of outputting just about anything: it is equipped with a DVI socket on the back capable of outputting both digital and analog signal outputs.  The rest is entirely up to the core.  As for precisely what Minimig AGA supports screenmodes-wise, that's something that only MikeJ or Jakub can answer right now.  As for custom graphics card support, well a lot would depend on what exactly you have in mind.  But my understanding is that if what you want is Picasso-style graphics card support, then I'm pretty sure that support can and will in due time be implemented in FPGA as well.  There's no need for a physical card via the expansion slot, just as there's no need for physical AGA chips to gain AGA compatibility, it can all be done in FPGA.

On the question of Chip RAM, I know it is possible to expand Chip RAM from the standard AGA 2MB up to a massive 50MB(!). There is a Youtube video from last year which which shows this in action; the additional Chip RAM can be activated by executing an 'xchip' command in the AmigaShell.  Chip RAM availability then shoots up from 2MB to 50MB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn4ZzLH6MpE (it's at around the 1:10 mark.)

[amigadave]

MikeJ will be able to answer in more depth, I'm sure, but my understanding is that the output modes selectable, is something which is entirely determined by the core itself, and then any drivers written in AmigaOS to support what the core supports.

The Replay Board itself is capable of outputting just about anything: it is equipped with a DVI socket on the back capable of outputting both digital and analog signal outputs.  The rest is entirely up to the core.  As for precisely what Minimig AGA supports screenmodes-wise, that's something that only MikeJ or Jakub can answer right now.  As for custom graphics card support, well a lot would depend on what exactly you have in mind.  But my understanding is that if what you want is Picasso-style graphics card support, then I'm pretty sure that support can and will in due time be implemented in FPGA as well.  There's no need for a physical card via the expansion slot, just as there's no need for physical AGA chips to gain AGA compatibility, it can all be done in FPGA.

On the question of Chip RAM, I know it is possible to expand Chip RAM from the standard AGA 2MB up to a massive 50MB(!). There is a Youtube video from last year which which shows this in action; the additional Chip RAM can be activated by executing an 'xchip' command in the AmigaShell.  Chip RAM availability then shoots up from 2MB to 50MB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn4ZzLH6MpE (it's at around the 1:10 mark.)

I know that the display modes are controllable by the core, but my question, or hope was that more advanced display modes could be supported with an actual graphics RTG card connected to the Replay board, or to it's daughter card.  Display modes from the core will be limited to the softcore AGA code and it would be nice if there was a way to also have some more powerful, better looking display modes from a video card.

Thanks for the answer about the Chip RAM, as I had forgotten what was done with that.  So many Amiga choices these days, it is hard to keep up with all of them.

[mongo]

I know that the display modes are controllable by the core, but my question, or hope was that more advanced display modes could be supported with an actual graphics RTG card connected to the Replay board, or to it's daughter card.  Display modes from the core will be limited to the softcore AGA code and it would be nice if there was a way to also have some more powerful, better looking display modes from a video card.

Don't need a video card, Minimig AGA has one built in.

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=648912

[Everblue]

What sort of specs does the arcade FPGA come with out of the box? Emulated CPU speed and RAM?

[ShapeShifter]

Don't need a video card, Minimig AGA has one built in.

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=648912

This is what I trying to get across when I said the available output modes on the Replay are controlled in software, by the soft core (the 'hardware') and by OS drivers.  The FPGA can "be" anything we want it to be - it can be a CPU, ECS, AGA - and a graphics card too.  We don't need a physical graphics card to get RTG modes, that's the beauty of this system. The FPGA is like a blank canvas.  It can be anything we'd like to create in silicon!

The only limitation is that someone has to write the core code & drivers to support the particular screen modes we wish to display - and the FPGA needs enough spare capacity to output the mode we're looking to support.  Yacubed estimated the Replay could support modes upto 1,280 x 1,024 - but I am guessing that's in full 24-bit mode, and that higher resolutions would be possible with less colours.

The link above to the Minimig AGA 060 topic explains in more detail, but to sum it up, the only reason that FPGA Replay does not presently support Picasso96 RTG screen modes is because the T68K soft core is not yet 100% compatible in '020 mode, and so the P96 software won't yet run.  But with a 68060 CPU installed via an expansion card, the Picasso 96 *will* run, and thus can support RTG modes people, provided a P96 driver is written for them.

Yacubed is working away at implementing this now, and the aim is to have the P96 software fully running and supporting RTG modes on an unexpanded Replay board in the nearish future.  MikeJ is currently doing some work on different output modes too.

[wizard66]

What sort of specs does the arcade FPGA come with out of the box? Emulated CPU speed and RAM?

CPU : 68020 (@ 68030/50 Mhz speed)
Ram: 64MB

    Tiny size of 170x80mm, fits any mini-ITX cabinet
    Xilinx Spartan 3E FPGA (1.6M Gates)
    ARM 7S256 System controller
    64 MB DDR2 DRAM
    Wolfson HI-FI quality DAC
    SD slot, DVI out, USB, PS/2 and serial connectors.
    Expansion slot for JAMMA expansion board, MC68060+ethernet board, etc

 
Input / output connections

P1 2 pin RS232 select jumber for debug (ARM or FPGA)
P2 2 pin 5V external power input
P3 32 pin IO cable expansion 1
P4 9 pinD RS232
P5 Molex 12V/5V external power input
P6 2.1mm 5V power input for wall adapter
P7 32 pin IO cable expansion 2
P8 main SAMTEC board stacking connector. Lots of IO
P9 3 pin ARM debug serial connector
P10 2 pin ARM ERASE
P11 2 pin ARM TST
P12 micro USB (for updating ARM firmware)
P13 6 pin FPGA JTAG debug
P14 5 pin USB header (parallel with P12)
P15 sub SAMTEC board stacking connector. Video+Audio+Joysticks
P16 SD card
P17 2 pin external ARM reset input
P18 2 x 9pinD enhanced joystick inputs
P19 2 pin soft reset input (parallel with S2 push button)
P20 SVHS / composite video output
P21 2 x 6pin PS2 inputs (mouse / keyboard)
P22 DVI output (HDMI + analogue video for SCART/VGA)
P23 3.5mm stereo audio output

[Everblue]

I guess the specs are more than enough to install Workbench 3.1 on 'HDD' (SDCARD) and then copy a bunch of games and use WHDLOAD to play them

[freqmax]

The only limitation is that someone has to write the core code & drivers to support the particular screen modes we wish to display - and the FPGA needs enough spare capacity to output the mode we're looking to support.  Yacubed estimated the Replay could support modes upto 1,280 x 1,024 - but I am guessing that's in full 24-bit mode, and that higher resolutions would be possible with less colours.

The hard limitations are:
 * Primarily memory bandwidth, (screen size) * (color depth) * (updates) = (memfreq) * (bits)
 * Memory size limits maximum resolution
 * Memory access can be lessen by using HAM-style mode. Like HAM24 etc..
 * I/O transition rate (333 Mbps/lane?) on the FPGA and number of bits wired to the video transceiver chip

Things like DDR on the memory access doubles number of bits per clock. While CPU accesses uses up some..

[ShapeShifter]

CPU : 68020 (@ 68030/50 Mhz speed)

At the moment, this is correct, but it is subject to change as they improve the T68K core.  I've been exchanging some interesting e-mails with Yacubed on this subject in order to get a better grip on where things are going.  Here's a little snippet from his email (slightly altered for clarity).  I'm sure he won't mind me sharing with a wider audience

SS: I think for most people, though, what matters is not really what the specific model of CPU you implement -- but getting the maximum possible performance and speed ... Maximum compatibility and maximum speed.

Y: "That's the beauty of FPGA chips - you can create circuits which never existed before. The Tobias Gubener's TG68 can be configured on the fly between 68000/010/020 and EC020 modes. The performance calculated as instructions per clock is already twice as fast as an 030, and we can use hardware multipliers of the FPGA to improve multiplication and shift/rotate instructions. Then it will outperform an 060 clocked at the same rate. The compatibility of [a real] 68060 is limited (when compared with its predecessor) in exchange for it's higher performance. Our softcore CPU doesn't have these drawbacks (although we need some time to fix the last few problems but fortunately there are not many of them).

I guess the specs are more than enough to install Workbench 3.1 on 'HDD' (SDCARD) and then copy a bunch of games and use WHDLOAD to play them

It should just about do, yes...

[mikej]

A brief update.
Boards are shipping. I am working through the list of everybody who has contacted me as I can test and ship board. If you haven't received a email yet, you will!

I have produced a version of the core based on Yacube's 060 version, but with internal softcore again. This has also picked up some of the generic Replay libs and I am working on a general code and timing cleanup in parallel with the Yacube's work.

As was mentioned, this code does contain a "video card" capable of hi-res output over DVI, when the CPU core is fixed.
Best,
Mike