Development of a transputer ISA board

Summary

Development of a transputer ISA board I developed software for transputers in the years 1993-1996. A few months ago, I wrote some articles about my experiences, and most recently I developed a transputer emulator in Javascript. After my transputer emulator in Javascript was working, I got curious about running my software on a PC computer. I have several PC motherboards with ISA connectors, and I decided to build a card compatible with the Inmos B004 (a single board to test transputer processors). Out of curiosity, I decided for compatibility because I wanted to run the Inmos Occam compiler. A quick look in eBay and I got two transputer boards (TRAMs) for $25 each one. Both based on the Inmos T805 transputer running at 30 mhz. I got the port numbers for the board from Geekdot, and designed a decoder schematic based on TTL circuits. My first schematic for the board. The TRAM board contains the transputer and its memory. It is connected to the ISA board with an Inmos C011 chip that serializes and deserializes the communication link. This chip is accessed via the ports 0150H-0153H. My ISA board also provides a 5 mhz oscillator, two flip-flops to reset and analyse the transputer, and a tri-state gate to read the error status. Ports of an Inmos B004 board OffsetField 0150H ReadReceive data 0151H WriteSend data 0152H ReadReceive status 0153H ReadSend status 0160H WriteLatch bit 0 = Direct to Reset 0161H WriteLatch bit 0 = Direct to Analyse 0160H ReadBit 0 = Direct from notError I required a single ISA board drilled for homebrew development. I was going to buy one board in eBay for $35 dollars shipped, but I considered it was way too expensive. After some searching, I found the PCBWay showcase, where this same board was available for sale. And better, I could get 5 boards of 10x10cm. for $25 dollars shipped. The ISA board for homebrewing. I got the board and I started to put sockets for the chips. It took me a while to get the oscillator working. Once it was generating the...