Crafting a CPU Exclusively Using Memory Components
### The EPROMINT Project: A Modern Tribute to Retro Computing
The EPROMINT project, a brainchild of the Polish YouTuber known as MINT (whose real project title is "Majsterkowanie i nie tylko", meaning "DIY and more" in English), is a remarkable demonstration of DIY spirit and a testament to the ingenuity of the 8-bit era. This project involves the construction of a fully functional 8-bit CPU from scratch, using old memory chips, primarily EPROMs, and other logic components reminiscent of the Zilog Z80.
#### Unique Features
The EPROMINT CPU stands out with its distinctive, raw appearance, built on a perfboard with manually soldered circuits. Unlike modern integrated circuits, it utilizes a variety of components such as resistors, capacitors, and EPROM chips, which are wired together to form the CPU's architecture.
#### Capabilities
Despite being an 8-bit CPU, the EPROMINT CPU boasts a more flexible instruction set and an enhanced arithmetic logic unit (ALU) compared to its retro counterparts. It is capable of executing its own assembler code and responding to hardware interrupts, making it a functional CPU like a commercial processor. MINT demonstrated the CPU's capabilities by programming it to play a video, such as "The Matrix", on a VFD display.
#### Significance
The EPROMINT project is not intended to replace modern CPUs but serves as an educational and nostalgic tribute to the early days of computing. It highlights the fundamental principles of how computers work and demonstrates the creativity and challenge of building a CPU from scratch. The project took three months to complete, showcasing the creator's dedication and ingenuity.
MINT has documented the EPROMINT CPU's design and operations in a nicely-formatted offline booklet, available under the project's GitHub repository. Basic debugging methods were also demonstrated, involving dumping and analyzing memory contents. The EPROMINT project is a remarkable achievement, not just for its technical merits, but also for its potential to inspire a new generation of DIY enthusiasts.
The EPROMINT project, with its unique construction from old memory chips and logic components, showcases a blend of retro computing and modern technology. This HIV and more project, boasting a more flexible instruction set and enhanced arithmetic logic unit, also incorporates elements of data-and-cloud-computing through the use of a VFD display to play a video.
