gdevic/FPGA-Calculator

Source: https://github.com/gdevic/FPGA-Calculator

From Gates to a Calculator

This project implements a fully functional scientific calculator in hardware using an FPGA. It includes a custom soft CPU, microcode firmware, and supporting tools.

For the full story, see the blog.

Try it in a web browser:

• Without debugger
• With debugger

Project Structure

Quick Start

The fastest way to try the calculator is to build the Qt simulator:

# From WSL2
cd /mnt/c/Projects/FPGA-Calculator/verilog
make qt

Then open Qt/Calculator.pro in Qt Creator and build for “Desktop Qt MSVC2022 64 Bit”.

See the verilog/ and Qt/ folders for detailed instructions.

Required Tools

Install these tools depending on your target:

Verilator Setup

Verilator runs in WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux). The project source files reside on a Windows partition and are accessed from WSL2.

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf flex libfl-dev bison

# Clone and build Verilator
git clone https://github.com/verilator/verilator
cd verilator
git checkout v5.042    # For Desktop, or v4.228 for WebAssembly
autoconf
./configure
make -j8
make test

# Set environment (add to .bashrc for persistence)
export VERILATOR_ROOT=$(pwd)

Optionally install GtkWave for viewing waveforms:

sudo apt install gtkwave

Build Targets

See the README files in each subfolder for detailed build instructions:

• verilog/README.md - Verilator simulation and microcode assembly
• calctest/README.md - Command-line test harness for hardware verification
• quartus/README.md - FPGA synthesis and programming
• ucode/README.md - Microcode source files

Pathfinding Projects

Independent research and verification projects:

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

You are free to:

• Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
• Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

• Attribution - You must give appropriate credit and indicate if changes were made
• NonCommercial - You may not use the material for commercial purposes
• ShareAlike - Contributions must be distributed under the same license