Another weekend rolls around, and I can spend some time working on my passion projects, including working with single-board computers, playing with emulators, and general tinkering with a soldering iron. Earlier this year, I wrote about resurrecting the Commodore Amiga on the Raspberry Pi. A colleague referred to our shared obsession with old technology as a "passion for preserving our digital culture."
In my travels in the world of "digital archeology," I heard about a new way to emulate old systems by using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). I was intrigued by the concept, so I dedicated a weekend to learn more. Specifically, I wanted to know if I could use an FPGA to emulate a Commodore Amiga.
What is an FPGA?
When you build a circuit board, everything is literally etched in silicon. You can change the software that runs on it, but the physical circuit is immutable. So if you want to add a new component to it or modify it later, you are limited by the physical nature of the hardware. With an FPGA, you can program the hardware to simulate new components or change existing ones. This is achieved through programmable logic gates (hence the name). This provides a lot of flexibility for Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, as they can be changed later to meet new requirements.
FPGAs are used in many devices today, including smartphones, medical devices, motor vehicles, and aircraft. Because FPGAs can be easily modified and generally have low power requirements, these devices are everywhere! They are also inexpensive t ..
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