[libre-riscv-dev] Introduction

[Samuel Falvo II]

Hello everyone.  In part to ensure this list address is embedded in my
GMail address book, and to let others know who I am, I thought I'd write a
quick introduction.

My name is Samuel A. Falvo II, though online I also go by kc5tja or
Vertigo, depending on which social medium service you happen to be using.

I am working on the Kestrel Computer Project [1], which is my attempt to
build a fully open-source computer using FPGA technology.  My goal is to
make a computer which, to the greatest extent that I can, approximates the
user experience of a Commodore 64 or similar machine, but with contemporary
parts.  You might occasionally hear reference to a neologism I coined to
describe this idea, a "neoretro" computer.

The above-linked site is a great introduction to the project, but it's
dated, and I haven't bothered to update it in years.  For more recent
information, software, and hardware files related to the latest incarnation
of the concept, the Kestrel-3, please see [2].  I also maintain a
not-as-frequently-updated project page at Hackaday.io [3].

Prior to the Kestrel-3 kick-off, I had completed a predecessor computer
design called the Kestrel-2DX[4].  This was a refinement of a still earlier
project, the Kestrel-2 (sources for this are in the github repo), but with
my first home-brew RISC-V processor design, the KCP53000.  This CPU was
originally intended to be used with the Kestrel-3, but there were a number
of problems with it that I am not comfortable with going forward, so for
the Kestrel-3, I'm redesigning it, this time using nmigen and formal
verification, two decisions that I've been extremely happy with so far.
This will be called the KCP53000B design.

The KCP53000B is currently MPLv2 licensed, but I've discussed with Luke the
possibility of re-licensing it.  I was originally going to go with GPLv3,
but Luke made some persuasive arguments that I should consider LGPLv2
instead.

Right now, due to my work schedule, I spend an average of about three hours
per week working on the Kestrel, but it's typically bursty.  I'll not have
the energy to work on it for weeks at a time, and then one fateful week,
I'll spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday just banging out code.  And then
I'll be burnt out again for the next couple of weeks, and the cycle
continues.  ;)

Anyway, that's a little bit about me.  I look forward to collaborating in
any meaningful way that I can, time constraints permitting.  Thank you Luke
for inviting me to join this list.

________
1.  http://kestrelcomputer.github.io/kestrel/
2.  http://chiselapp.com/user/kc5tja/repository/kestrel-3/index
3.  https://hackaday.io/project/10035-kestrel-computer-project
4.  https://chiselapp.com/user/kc5tja/repository/kestrel-2dx/index
-- 
Samuel A. Falvo II