CPC TREX
NEXT GENERATION CPC with state-of-the-art technology

[ Description | Features | Photos | Download | Credits ]

* 24MHZ Z80 * 576KB RAM * 256KB ROM *
* CF CARD IDE DEVICE * VGA + PS2 CONNECTOR *
* AND MUCH MORE! *

Description


The CPC TREX consists of the TOBIFLEX Amstrad CPC turbo core and the reconfigurable T-REX C1 board by TerasIC, which is based on the Cyclone FPGA by Altera. This is NOT one more CPC emulator but something like a real hardware CPC rebuilded with FPGA technology, which also includes some totaly new features and possibilities. The TREX C1 board is very small, an industrial production and it contains connectors to all the standard PC periphery like VGA monitors, PS/2 input devices and CF cards.

You will find all general information about the board at the TerasIC website:
TerasIC Technologies (http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=39&No=14&Revision=018&PartNo=1)

The Amstrad CPC turbo core of the CPC TREX is based on Tobiflex C-One turbo core, which was developed for the C-One board. For more information about this project you can have a look at its website:
C-ONE Reconfigurable Computer (http://c64upgra.de/c-one/)

Here you can download the actual TurboCPC core for the C-ONE, which includes an actual SymbOS package:
http://c64upgra.de/c-one/download/SymbOS_CPC_release.zip

This section is still under construction, and you will find more information about the CPC TREX here in the future!


Features

  • complete Amstrad CPC 6128 standard hardware
  • Z80 CPU with 4MHz (normal) or 24MHz (turbo mode)
  • nearly 100% compatibility
  • 576KB RAM (dk'tronics compatible; by an additional MMU this will be extended to 8MB [!] soon)
  • 256KB ROM (16x16KB, freely useable)
  • VGA connector (for CRT or TFT displays, needs to support 50Hz)
  • PS/2 keyboard connector
  • PS/2 mouse connector (SYMBiFACE II compatible; requires a PS/2 Y-cable, so that mouse and keyboard can be used at the same time)
  • CF card slot: The CF card will be used as DSK storage and SYMBiFACE IDE mass storage device (standard 128MB or 256MB SanDisc without highspeed are recommended)
  • Audio stereo output
  • FDC disc drive emulation; DSK files will be loaded from the CF card
  • serial RS232 connector
  • USB connector (used for FPGA and flash memory updates)

Photos


Click on the photos for a larger image.


The TREX board with the small size of 15x15cm includes all necessary connectors
 
Workstation feeling with the CPC TREX and the SYMBOS multitasking operating system
 
The SymbOS based ROM and DSK menu loads the selected files directly from the CF card
 
SYMBiFACE II support: IDE mass storage device and PS/2 mouse are included
 

Demos in 24MHz turbo mode: Digital Orgasm with 255 3D vector balls at full speed!
 
Simple but great classic games like Fruity Frank are running as well as...
 
...such ones like Zap't'Balls, which are pushing the CPC hardware to its limits
 
Ecole Buissonniere, one of the best software demos ever, works in turbo mode, too
 		  

Download


CPC TREX core, SymbOS start menu and CPC configuration package
Version 2.1
This package contains all files you need to install the Tobiflex Turbo CPC on your TerasIC TREX board.
Please read the included #readme.txt for information how to install it.

Video of the CPC TREX running SymbOS in Turbo Mode
This is a ZIPped DivX-AVI-Video, which shows the CPC TREX and SymbOS in action. It is a very impressive demonstration about the true multitasking capabilities of SymbOS and the power of the CPC TREX. Most times you always see four different applications (SymPlay inclusive) running at the same time and doing a lot of actions.

Complete source code of the CPC TREX core (Quartus snapshot)
Den eigenen CPC bauen? Vielleicht den CPC T-REX verbessern? Vielleicht nur neugierig und wie ein Schwein ins Uhrwerk gucken?
Hier ist der komplette Sourcecode der Hardware des CPC-TREX zu finden. Das Zip-File enthält einen Quartussnapshot. Es muß also nur entpackt werden und schon läßt sich mit ALTERA Quartus das Projekt öffnen und bearbeiten.
Die Designfiles sind vorwiegend in AHDL geschrieben. Es wurde aber auch VHDL und Schaltungseingabe verwendet.
Eine Besonderheit dürfte der in AHDL geschriebene Z80 kompatible Prozessor sein. TobiFlex hat alle "illegalen" OPCodes eingebaut und braucht dazu nur die Hälfte der Logikzellen des OpenCores T80! Das Timing ist speziell an die Erfordernisse des CPCs angepaßt.
Auch wer nach einer Hardwarebeschreibung vom 6845, AY8912, 8255 oder einen SDRAM-Controller sucht wird hier fündig.


Credits

TaskExecuter
Amstrad CPC Core developer TOBIFLEX
TREX C1 board producer TerasIC Technologies (http://www.terasic.com/english/fpga_01.htm)
Cyclone FPGA manufactor Altera (http://www.altera.com/products/devices/cyclone/cyc-index.jsp)
ROM and DSK loader Prodatron/SymbiosiS