Emulating PS1 Controller?

Kyle L.

I'd like to use an MCU to emulate a PS1 controller, hooked up to a PS1. I've read up on the protocol, and have used a logic analyzer to take a look at the interaction between the PS and the controller, so I have a fairly good idea of how it works. But I don't quite know how to go about emulating the controller.

There are a lot of projects out there about interfacing with the controller (i.e. reading data from the controller), but not about sending data from an MCU to a PlayStation. The projects out there that do emulate a PS1 controller are rather complicated and usually involve interfacing with different kinds of controllers and converting the signals from those into signals compatible with different systems. So it's not exactly transparent or easy to learn from.

My main issue is that the data coming from the controller needs to sync up to a clock signal sent by the PS as well as a command signal, and I'm not sure how to accomplish this. Other than that, I can figure out how to handle the logic and whatnot. It's just the command/clock syncing that I don't understand how to do.

I've attached an image that shows what the protocol looks like.

Any ideas?

Kyle L.

Alright - Now I know that what I need to do is set up a MCU, or some kind of circuit, as a SPI slave.

For the few microcontrollers I have (BS2, Prop, and PICAXE), I've read the documentation and saw several examples using them as masters - but nothing about using them in slave mode. Unless I missed it.

Someone on another forum mentioned using an AVR chip, and looking at the datasheet, it seems fairly easy, at first glance, to use it as a slave.

Has anyone had experience setting up an SPI slave? Are there any other chips or circuits you could recommend?

Thanks.