WOW! Advanced stuff!

Not bad...looks like you've kept the area fairly tight :)

I think it's cool that you managed this using only two layers of silicon.

Was that a conscious decision or is that just how you do things?

Very cool.

Quote:...feel free to give me some input on what additions you would find useful.

I was going to say RS232, but it appears you already thought of that. *tries harder to be more original*

Most of the microcontrollers I've used only do exciting things in software (AT keyboard/mouse protocol, Sony IR protocol, rubbishy sound).

How are you intending to handle memory? ROM BIOS with Flashable EEPROM? Are you even intending to turn this into a full system (fixed input device, display, whatever) or just a general-purpose Z80-based device?

Quote:I think it's cool that you managed this using only two layers of silicon.

Was that a conscious decision or is that just how you do things?

Thanks. It's a two layer printed circuit board, and I would use more layers but I didn't for several reasons, the most important of which are below.

1). The manufacturer I go through to get them made makes 2 or 4 layer boards, with the 4 layer versions having additional power and ground planes, so you still only have 2 planes to use for signaling. The power runs don't take up much space so it was cheaper to use a 2 layer board rather than a 4 layer one.

2). The original plan for this unit was to sell it to hobbyests, but the guy who I designed it with is going through some personal issues for the forseeable future and turned over everything to me. Anyway, back to the reason...Since it was for hobbyests I thought it would be good to make the board simple to rewire if a person should decide to do so. Having a 4 layer board could be a pain to rewire.

Quote:Most of the microcontrollers I've used only do exciting things in software (AT keyboard/mouse protocol, Sony IR protocol, rubbishy sound).

How are you intending to handle memory? ROM BIOS with Flashable EEPROM? Are you even intending to turn this into a full system (fixed input device, display, whatever) or just a general-purpose Z80-based device?

You can get micros to do some neat things with the use of a little imagination and ingenuity.

Memory is EPROM with either banks of SRAM or FRAM depending on the end application/user options.

The plan is for a general purpose Z80 controller board where you will be able to plug expansion boards into slots. The system will recognize that a board has been hot-plugged, power it up, read the contents of its ID/BIOS memory, and handle the board accordingly. Voila, plug and use. The main board itself won't have many functions other than basic PIO/SIO, DMA, power management, CPU, etc. The expansion slots are where the specialized functionality is added.

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why someone wouldn't just buy a regular computer instead of something like this. Again, a lot of hobbyests like the Z80 and can use it without designing/building/programming a system to use the Z80 family of components.