View this PageEdit this PageUploads to this PageHistory of this PageHomeRecent ChangesSearchHelp Guide

Merlin Junior

A classical "computer in the keyboard" design, the focus is in a low cost solution but with as few limitations as possible. The most serious one is the fixed size of the main memory. For this project it was reasonable to increase the cost of a typical system if the result was a lower cost for the base system.

The main hardware features are:
  • Spartan IIe XC2S150 FPGA
  • CPLD for loading FPGA from Flash
  • Flash memory for FPGA programming and boot code
  • 32MB of 32 bit SDRAM
  • 2x PS/2 interfaces for mouse and keyboard (not used for configurations with internal keyboard and pointing device)
  • 2x USB 1.1 host interface
  • SVGA output (15 bits per pixel)
  • internal speaker
  • stereo audio output
  • two 2 bit wide O network interfaces (96MBps in each direction, for nearly 400Mbps peak bandwidth in a fully connected ring) using 10BaseT Ethernet connectors and cables (with an Ethernet mode that allows direct connection to 10 Mbps networks)
  • raw keyboard interface (can alternatively be a TTL or LVDS LCD interface)
  • solid state "trackball" interface
  • internal JTAG connector
  • integrated power supply with external transformer

The Junior netlist is under development.