http://www.qdev.de/?forcelang=en&location=qbox/intro


Project QBox

...a new computer project!


The "QBox" will be a new computersystem with a lot of new features. This idea evolved from my dissatisfaction with the construction, programming methods and operation of todays computers.

With the "Project QBox", I try to join powerful hardware, a fast operating-system and a useful architekture in hard- and software to create a system which is very easy to use and quick to understand because of its logical construction.

In this section you can get all the news about the current development-state of my new QBox-Computer.

Of course I'm very interested on comments and suggestions. So please send an eMail to me!

ColdFire

Developer Board The QBox will be powered by an Motorola ColdFire RISC processor. This picture shows my former developer platform which I used until I developed my ppQBox.
It was equipped with a ColdFire 5206/25MHz, 2MB PS/2 RAM, 256kB FlashROM, 2 Serial Interfaces, a BDM Debug port and an ISA-Slot. The large flatband cables were connected to a selfmade FPGA-board equipped with a Xilinx XC4005XL with 3.3V core voltage.
The developer platform is not the QBox, it's just a help for me to create my own cpu boards and an example on how to create coldfire computers.
I coded already a small preemtive Multitasking kernel for this board and it run already successful over 20 Tasks at once!
This board will perhaps someday get an VGA-compatible graphics board and a IBM-Keyboard interface so that it makes sense to start to code the complete OS (called QOS). The connected FPGA is used to study the connected work of a fast CPU together with a in-system programmable logic chip. Later, I will use the Xilinx chips to create own bus-controllers and video-chips. The main advantage of FPGA's is, that you can create hardware by using software... ;) You no longer need to solder thousands of wires, you can now do this by code or by mouse. Well, in spite of this advantage it is still complex to create those designs because there are side-effects which must be considered.
This is the print version. Back to normal view