Commodore One

A Commodore 64 For The New Millenium - by chrisd (49% noise)

samdu writes “The CommodoreOne (http://c64upgra.de/c-one/) is now available
for purchase (http://www.kdh-shop24.de/catalog/default.php). The C=1 is a
reimplementation of the Commodore=64 in an ATX form factor, 65c816 processor
running at approximately 20 MHz, VGA out, an updated SID (with backward
compatibility), 32 MB of RAM, standard IDE, PS/2 ports, and a 64 compatible
cartridge slot. Let the hobbying begin.” We’ve run previous stories on
related efforts.

It’s much more! Emulating this is impossible! - by Wiesel (Score: 5,
Informative) Thread

The C-One website has not been updated since a few weeks. Many changes have
been made in the past, especially changes that make the board a lot more
versatile.

First there’s to mention the SD-Ram socket. The board is not limited to 32
megs of memory, but it can take any 3.3V SD-Ram up to 1GB. Video/multimedia
memory is also expandable to up to 128megs with a SIMM module.

We have added a CPU slot. The board is no longer limited to a 65816 at
20Mhz. We can supply all kinds of different CPUs that have been used on all
the classic homecomputers.

Of course, the “glue logic” of the thing must be different for every CPU.
This is achieved with completely re-configurable logic. As opposed to
mainstream computers where each chip has it’s dedicated task, the C-One’s
two main chips have programmable behaviour. That means we can not only clone
the C-64, but also a VIC-20, C-16, Atari 2600, Sinclair ZX81, Spectrum, Ohio
Scientific Challenger, and we’ve even looked into the Super Nintendo. The
possibilities are infinite. Get us the documentation of your favourite 8-bit
machine, and with a little luck, you’ll be able to download a core file for
the mainboard that turns the C-One into a clone of that computer.

So please - do not see the C-One as a Commodore 64 replica. It’s a giant
leap in computer technology, having the opportunity to change the behaviour
of the hardware on the fly, to adapt it’s behaviour to the needs of the
application that currnetly runs. This adaption is dynamic, the computer does
not have to be restarted. Think of it as loading a sub-program, it’s just
that loading this sub-program equals installing a new add-on card on the
board.

The C-One aims at those who are into computer nostalgia, as well as those
who want it for educational purpose. We’ll supply all kinds of material for
you to start VHDL programming, and instantly try it out on this board. Start
modifying the board without soldering, extend the capabilities of your video
output, or even switch to a completely different computer on the fly.

This computer is not for the usual point-and-click user. It’s going back to
the times where each and every bit of the machine was documented, and
forward to a new kind of computer technology: Re-configurable hardware.

As for emulators, they’re out of the question. Since the hardware is
re-configurable, it would have to be emulated at the gate level. To do this
in real-time, we calculated that it would take a 24THz (24000 GHz) computer
to emulate the smaller FPGA with 30.000 gates in realtime. The bigger of the
two chips has 100.000 gates. I think it’ll take a few years until the C-One
becomes obsolete.

Jens Schönfeld
(individual Computers, we’re bringing the C-One to the market)

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