This week Tess and Adolfo worked on implementing the CPU in simulation. They had to polish each component in the CPU and finish implementing all the instructions. Once they implemented everything, they wrote unit tests for each instruction to assure the system worked. Adolfo found a compiler to convert from .asm to .gb to .h so we were able to easily write unit tests.
After this, Tess worked on creating a memory controller that would handle the DMA process and manage access. A majority is done but she still needs to research memory bank switching. Since that was not a priority for getting the overall system running right now, since Tetris doesn’t use a memory bank controller, she started working on the timer. Her and Adolfo are working on getting that finished before the demo tomorrow.
Adolfo also worked on finishing the PPU. He is currently focusing on displaying a background image as the first layer of the display. He has the PPU FSM working correctly and fetcher. He was able to get VGA test running again on the new board. In addition, he was able to upload FPGA files and set pin assignments, which will be make it easier for the team to transition from simulation in the near future.
Pratyusha set up minicom to transfer files to the SoC, in the initial absense of a network and internet for the board. She then set up a network to talk to the board, and ethernet connections on either side (VM and Soc). She also rearranged memory of the VM by booting VM OS onto another linux OS to repartition and rearrange memory. After creating the cross compiled binary of a HPS program ,she scp’d it onto the board, and can now use ssh. The program uses HPS key to light the HPS led. Her next goal is to interpret USB signals from the hub controller, and understand memory mapped RAM.