I have a desire to create an 80386 CPU in FPGA form, one which will plug in to the 132-pin socket of existing 80386 motherboard as a replacement CPU. I want to be able to provide the features of the 80386 on that machine, but through my FPGA, to then allow me to extend the ISA to include other instructions and abilities.
Does anybody have an experience or advice in creating an FPGA-based CPU that connects to a real hardware device and simulates the real device's abilities?
For example, the 80386 uses 5V and the Altera board I have drives 1.xV and
3.3V max, so I'd have to use a level converter. At speeds up to a max of 40 MHz, would there be any issues?Also, I'd like to create a "monitor board," which is a board with a 132- pin male socket connecting to the CPU on one side, and a 132-pin female socket on the other side to which a real 80386 CPU would connect, and then to be able to pull signals off the wires between the CPU socket and the CPU itself. I had assumed I would use opto-isolation for this, but I don't know if it would work or be best.
In addition, and specific to the 80386 CPU, AMD manufactured an Am386 CPU that is 100% compatible with the Intel 80386, but it has the ability to underclock down to even 0 MHz in a standby mode (allowing it to consume only 0.001 Watts). I'm wondering if anyone has any experience underclocking an 80386 motherboard down into the KHz range, or even Hz range, and if it would still work at those slow speeds on the board?
My goals in slowing down the CPU are to detect and isolate timing protocols, which I can then scale up to higher speeds once identified.
In any event, any help or advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Best regards, Rick C. Hodgin