Program A Microproccesor

[Crusader]

Hey i was doing some reading about microproccesors and i was wondering if i was able to get a microproccesor and be able to plug it into my comp and be able to program it.
Cheers

[office politics]

what microprocessor do you want to use?

i completed a college course on microprocessors where we wrote machine code to make different uses of the proc. Prerequisites for the course was AC/DC circuitry, digital electronics I & II.

[Crusader]

Well what i mean is how do you get the info(source code) off ur comp on to the microproccesor. Can u get a plug to link them? Because i have a machince code on disk for a microproccesor but how can i get the code on without haveing to pay a proffesional to do it.

[office politics]

which microprocessor?

[Crusader]

It would be a PCI microproccesor but is it possible to do with any microproccesor.
Cheers

[TheHeadFL]

No offense... but I'm not really sure you fully understand what you're asking for here...

With that said, you can play with designing microprocessors with languages like VHDL and Verilog.

I have designed and simulated a 5-stage Pipelined MIPS processor in Verilog for a class before. You can run basic assembly or C code on it.

You can get a simulator like VCS or any of a number of others.

[Crusader]

Originally posted by Crusader
Hey i was doing some reading about microproccesors and i was wondering if i was able to get a microproccesor and be able to plug it into my comp and be able to program it.
Cheers

Lol yea ur right i dont know what im really talking about but like i said i was "reading" and i "wondered". And the thing is i already have the machince code of a website. Im not actually going to carry out the project. But i was wondering the how the process of having a machine code and actually getting it on to the microproccesor works and if its possible to get a plug that goes from the proccesor into the computer. Or can you put it on to a mobo or something.
Cheers

[TheHeadFL]

What do you mean by "machine code" and "getting it onto the microprocessor"?

Microprocessors aren't like flash memory, they aren't (generally) programmable. They are made that way by a machine and are not changeable.

Also, generally the "code" (if any) behind a microprocessor is some kind of hardware synthesis language like VHDL or Verilog like I mentioned above. Are you referring to these, or are you referring to assembly language? Assembly language is closest to the general description of "machine language" when you hear it mentioned.

[Crusader]

http://www.bobblick.com/techref/proj...propclock.html
Here is the project, i just assumed that the microproccesor was able to be customly programed not just factory settings. I have no exp with microproccesors i was just wondering and btw im not going to attempt to try do this either.

[TheHeadFL]

OK that is most likely what is called a "PLA" (Programmable Logic Array) which you need to buy specifically, and you also need a machine that would allow you to 'burn' it.

You would probably be able to simulate this kind of design in a program like Logic Works (google this) and play with it. Depending on how low level you want to get, you can write it in a synthesis language like Verilog (some programs can burn verilog to prototyping chips) or you can actually work out the logic at the gate/mux level itself.

I would guess that if you had a PLA to store the writing to display (7 x 30 or whatever it specified) and then a multiplexer and a clock to select the appropriate line from the PLA to activate the LEDs which would be switched by AND gates connected to the outputs of the multiplexer and PLA.