Bag of Beans

This is an impressive feat: designing and building your own processor.

I’ve been a software guy all my life. However, I was always fascinated by electronics, and part of my success as a programmer was due to my thorough understanding of how computers work.

Back in 1999, I put that understanding to the ultimate test: I actually designed, and built, a simple but functional 4-bit computer from low-level electronic components (TTL logic gates.) Although this machine has less then one tenth of a percent of the speed and one millionth of the memory of a modern Pentium system, not to mention that its “user interface” is just a set of miniature switches and blinking LED lights, I still consider this a proud accomplishment.

• Link (via MAKE: Blog)

Related:

• Programmable Z80 Microcomputer

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 14:01 and is filed under computers, diy, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.