RamPage2 for PropPlatform and Quickstart
Rayman
Posts: 14,670
The new SQI SRAM chips (and also the new CMM mode in Prop GCC and Catalina C compilers)
and also the SSD1963 projects that use an 8-bit bus.
made me think about an 8-bit version of RamPage...
Just completed layout of the prototype.
It has 2X SQI Flash chips (32 Megabits total) and 2X SQI SRAM chips (2 Megabits total).
These share an 8-bit bus on P0...P7.
There is also an uSD card socket on the board to provide a complete memory expansion solution.
One side can connect to a Quickstart, the other side can connect to a Propeller Platform compatible board.
Here's what it looks like:
Haven't pushed the order button yet, so if anybody has a suggestion, there still time...
and also the SSD1963 projects that use an 8-bit bus.
made me think about an 8-bit version of RamPage...
Just completed layout of the prototype.
It has 2X SQI Flash chips (32 Megabits total) and 2X SQI SRAM chips (2 Megabits total).
These share an 8-bit bus on P0...P7.
There is also an uSD card socket on the board to provide a complete memory expansion solution.
One side can connect to a Quickstart, the other side can connect to a Propeller Platform compatible board.
Here's what it looks like:
Haven't pushed the order button yet, so if anybody has a suggestion, there still time...
166 x 343 - 9K
Comments
CMM just got me interested in C programming for Prop1...
About half an hour ago a courier dropped off my three latest boards, and one of them is a QSPI RAM/FLASH with uSD for QuickStart...
I'll post some pics ASAP.
If our two things are identical, I'll think about making changes to make them different. So, I'll be looking out for your picture.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?142826-The-Courier-dropped-off-the-prototypes-for-three-new-PCB-designs-today...
At a glance, here are the differences:
- yours is all SMT and also directly fits on Propeller Platform
- mine is nominally through hole but also takes SMT memory
- mine has additional features
I may not go into full production anyway if I see Prop 2 release immenent...
Prop2 will probably make this instantly obsolete...
Just kidding of course, trying to patent the 2x QuadSPI idea from last year would never pay anyway.
I received a board today where I discarded the second chip in favor of other features (the 2x boards work great, but with less flexibility). The QuadSPI footprint is on P0..3 on the new board for best performance - got some SQI RAMs for testing today too.
Cheers.
Yep, due to the Propeller's design P0-3, and P0-7 are prime territory for memory... the movf on P2 should alleviate this limitation.
Yesterday I got samples of that new "OSPI" (octal spi? I just coined that abbreviation) 128Kx8 sram. Looks interesting. It also works in QSPI mode.
Unveiled last year in 3 different boards.
But, maybe you see the also writing on the wall that Prop2 will make all this irrelevant...
I've certainly thought about that, but have been too busy with other stuff.
My conclusion so far is that any SPI, QuadSPI/SQI, or 2x QuadSPI/SQI is fast enough for XMM/C usage. Being able to burst read bytes of data every 4 instructions is really great for things like video though and will be a great starting point for P2.
P2 will provide fertile ground for these kinds of things. Maybe we can all collaborate on some killer apps instead of N different platforms.
This should allow better graphics on PTP2, NH4, SSD1963 solutions and also regular TV and VGA.
But, C usage is also very interesting...
Bill is right... differences are substantial.
And I really want your board.
Stop teasing and get this puppy done:)
Rich
a while back i had talked to jazzed and duane about different ram interfaces. when jazz showed me some gcc drhystone marks it seems as a parallal sram design is the way to go.. it is the not only the fastest but most convient.
I have 8 of the new 23lc1024 qspi sram chips totalling a mega byte. i know there pin compatible with the older 32k sram chips but not code compatible. if i were to hook these chips up like jazzeds 8 bit sram or duanes 8 chip stack how hard would it be to get them working as far as using them with xmm or even just a nice fast place to store data like andres driver for the original chip?
im also wondering in quad mode just how much better these chips are going to be as there still only 20mhz and vga is 25mhz. dont get me wrong storing data and running code from the chips is my main goal but im curious on what your guys thoughts are an 8 bit/chip qspi set up and vga.
Ray, have you ever considered using a VS23S010 part for graphics?
http://www.vlsi.fi/?id=194
(seems like it was out even before the 24LC1024, maybe making it the 1st 1Mbit serial SRAM part on the market).
The interesting bit is the pattern generator, a second channel capable to spit out 1/2/4 bits at rates up to 40MHz.
That would make a nice low-end counterpart to your DVI board, IMHO.
EDIT: well seems like it's not in production yet, but samples are available. Also the pattern generator can only output 2bpp or 4bpp, but not 1bpp.
rwgast, I think it will work for XMM mode with some driver changes. 20 MHz is too slow for some things, but maybe "fat pixel" mode would work...
Actually, I have to take back something I said earlier... The SSD1963 is my current solution for better VGA and TFT LCD... I'm mostly interested in getting this to work in XMM mode for GCC and Catalina.
Well, let me further clarify... One way I would like to use it is to send data at high speed directly from SRAM or Flash to the SSD1963 graphics chip. The other way is as XMM for a C code...
I'm mailing a couple out to some individuals who volunteered to make this work with the C compilers...
One thing I'd like to do now is see if I can use 4 cogs to get the full 20 MB/s transfer rate.
I think if I can make that work, then I can do full-screen VGA graphics at 800x600 and 16 colors.
Pardon the slight off-topic, I was thinking about the other flashpoint modules: now that the 23LC1024 is out and tested, what about a "RamPage 1 mk2", same pinout as the old one but with just two chips?
Or another small module with just one SQI SRAM, with same pinout and size as the existing FlashPoint 8-pin? (thinking about "slots" here, and the ability to mix and match SRAM and Flash modules).
I think the 23LC1024 will fit on the Flashpoint pcb (just barely), but I'm not sure it would sell because you can just buy the DIP version...
One could just use 1/2 of Rampage2 to do what you want. I could do RP1 mk2 also... Have to think about that...
But, I think RP2 is going to be very nice. Especially with the onboard SD. I hope it will let one run enourmous C codes and/or maybe enable some new video modes.