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Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

a1k0n.net

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Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#41

Post by a1k0n »

RossBencina wrote: post #33

I was curious about the long-term stability of the cited HAKMEM sin/cos generator. I found an overview here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3111501 (EDIT: I'm still not sure about stability, apparently it is stable in exact arithmetic under certain conditions.) Coincidentally it is related to the Verlet integration video I posted last week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46253592

Yeah, it is exact in this specific circumstance. But yes, it's exactly the same trick; I also enjoyed that video in my Youtube recommender feed last week!

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#42

Post by peddling-brink »

idiotsecant wrote: post #31
peddling-brink wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language is fluid. This is ok. There are many bad things about LLMs, but a benign shift in popular language usage isn't one of them.

I disagree. It's a sign of what is essentially cultural contamination by an LLM. There is something vaguely gross about it, like when people start repeating advertising slogans. It's a sign that someone spent enough money that they directly rewired our brains.

Do you get grossed out when you step on a linoleum floor? Or you ride an escalator? Or drink out of a thermos?

Culture contaminates.

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#43

Post by attila-lendvai »

Marazan wrote: post #34
idiotsecant wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. It's a sign of what is essentially cultural contamination by an LLM. There is something vaguely gross about it, like when people start repeating advertising slogans. It's a sign that someone spent enough money that they directly rewired our brains.

> like when people start repeating advertising slogans but without the craft of a good advertising slogan. So worse!

...and way more centralized and powerful.

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#44

Post by sweetjuly »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #23
Neywiny wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend getting started like the author did: simulation first, then FPGA. Honestly FPGA will take you very far. I always get a kick out of being able to design my own SoC. "Hmmm I need 9 separate I2C ports... Ok, copy block, paste paste paste..." Or if you have an operation in software that's taking forever you can write an accelerator for it

What are the best modern tools to get started with in simulation for those who have never dabbled before?

The other commentator mentioned Verilator (which is indispensable in larger designs) but you may also want to grab Icarus Verilog too. It's a FOSS simulator and, unlike Verilator, is 2-bit and so it handles X ("don't care") and Z ("high impedance") signals. It's ridiculously slow compared to Verilator but the greater fidelity can be valuable depending on what you're trying to do.

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#46

Post by lucyjojo »

amelius wrote: post #26
glimshe wrote: post #2

Reminds me of college: "Hardware and Software are logically equivalent"

Writing hardware is like writing software except parallelism is way cheaper, but mistakes are way more expensive.

that doesnt seem like a good tradeoff...

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#47

Post by Neywiny »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #23
Neywiny wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend getting started like the author did: simulation first, then FPGA. Honestly FPGA will take you very far. I always get a kick out of being able to design my own SoC. "Hmmm I need 9 separate I2C ports... Ok, copy block, paste paste paste..." Or if you have an operation in software that's taking forever you can write an accelerator for it

What are the best modern tools to get started with in simulation for those who have never dabbled before?

I do the vast majority of my work on xilinx and it's easiest to just use the built in simulator. It's free and supports vhdl and verilog. Most support just one. For lattice and microchip work I use what the tool provides which is usually a cut down modelsim or something

Re: Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates

#49

Post by y1n0 »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #23
Neywiny wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend getting started like the author did: simulation first, then FPGA. Honestly FPGA will take you very far. I always get a kick out of being able to design my own SoC. "Hmmm I need 9 separate I2C ports... Ok, copy block, paste paste paste..." Or if you have an operation in software that's taking forever you can write an accelerator for it

What are the best modern tools to get started with in simulation for those who have never dabbled before?

start here: https://github.com/YosysHQ/oss-cad-suite-build
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