Fig R-1: w11a running on a Digilent
S3BOARD board with XC3S1000. The rlink connection is via the RS232
port and a
FTDI US232R-100
cable. The DBB1 kludge card contains a test setup for a
FTDI UM232R
module.
Fig R-2: Two of four processors of the 11/74 prototype PHEANX,
which was used up to the 90's for RSX builds. Earlier the
machine was used under the name CASTOR by DEC RSX Engineering
in Maynard. Picture courtesy of Dave Carroll.
Strategy
Long term goal is to re-create a PDP-11/70MP (aka 11/74) system. This up to 4 CPU symmetric multiprocessor system was developed in the late '70's by DEC, but was never marketed. See article The Never 11's . A few prototypes were build, see Figure R-2 for a picture of PHEANX/CASTOR. Some documentation has survived, like the preliminary DEC 11/70MP system manual, see also a historical summary. Full SMP support was added around 1980 to the RSX-11M-PLUS V2.0 operating system, see for example the set and remove affinity system calls in the Executive Manual (STAF$ on p 5-193 and RMAF$ on p 5-128). Worth to note in this context is that already in 1972 a 16 node SMP system based on PDP-11 CPU's was build by W. Wulf and G. Bell at Carnegie Mellon, the C.mmp, see their paper "C.mmp--A Multi-mini-processor" for the Fall JCC 1972.Permanent Tasks
- improve documentation, especially Tcl API
- improve verification, e.g. test benches
- resolve known issues
Short term (in work)
- fifo buffered implementation of character devices (DL11,LP11,PC11).
Mid term
- DZ11: terminal multiplexer; classical multiuser operation.
- DEUNA: add loopback, chaining ect; support OS beyond 211bsd
Long term
- FPP Floating Point Processor: The FPP will be asynchronous, with a more efficient coupling than in the original KB11-C CPU plus FP11-C FPP combination.
- new cache system: now write-back, wider cache lines, suitable to build a 11/70MP multiprocessor system. In contrast to the original 11/70MP a state-of-the-art cache coherence will be implemented.
- configurable CPU: make CPU features build-time configurable, for example to generate stripped down w11a versions optimized as an embedded console and IO processor in larger systems.
- stand-alone system: a system with an additional w11a CPU acting as CIOP (console and IO processor) which can be operated without a backend server.
- CPU throttling: some old code, especially tests with timing loops, has problems on a fast machine....
- PiDP-11: support for Oscar Vermeulen's marvelous PiDP-11 front panel.
Maybe term
Nice ideas, maybe they are realized, maybe not- TOY clock: the time-of-year clock was never part of a 11/70 system, but it is very convenient to have.
- DMC11: the old way to interconnect nodes via point-to-point connections. Can be used with 211bsd to transport ethernet frames.
- CR11: Card reader; pure nostalgia.
- DU11: Synchronous line interface. Use with IBM 3780 RJE terminal emulation to link to a IBM System/370 mainframe emulated by Hercules; the purest nostalgia
- UDA50: MSCP disk controller, for disks like RA81.
Boards
Ports to new boards will be done when interesting products show up. Tempting boards are:- Trenz TE0725-03-35: low cost, w11a with full 4 MB (from 8 MB onboard HyperRAM)
- Trenz TE0712-02-xxx: good price/performance for 200 die size
Release plan for w11a
| Release | Target Date | Main release goals |
|---|---|---|
| V0.80 | t.b.d. | I/O complete (DEUNA, DZ11, buffered DL11,PC11,LP11) |
| V0.90 | t.b.d. | resolve device and cpu issues |
| V1.00 | t.b.d. | Add FPP, CPU complete |
| V1.10 | t.b.d. | move ISE designs into legancy branch; vhdl-2008 code base |
| V1.20 | t.b.d. | write-back cache |
| V1.30 | t.b.d. | multi-CPU systems |
| V1.40 | t.b.d. | systems with Maintenance and IO Processor (MIOP; local IO handling) |
| V1.50 | t.b.d. | stand-alone systems |