Project Goals

I have many goals for this project that all overlap.

• Developing a ternary computer architecture that everything else is based on.
• Creating a web browser simulator based around the architecture that spoofs an "alt-history" late 1980s to early 1990s ternary home PC.
• Physical implementation of the architecture. FPGA, discrete components, ASIC, or custom chip.

• The first T729 design will be simple, inspiration drawn from classic 8-bit CPUs like the MOS 6502 and the Zilog Z80.
• The simulation design will start as a CISC design and attempt to use up the 729 possible instructions with any and all math and logic operations, addressing modes, etc. As software is written and experiments are done the design can be refined towards a RISC.
• When the 6 trit design has settled a 12 trit backwards compatible design can begin. Inspired by 16-bit Motorola chips.

In order to create a simulator I need a functional architecture and instruction set. Web browsers are the most universal platform to write software for. While web software is usually much slower than a native program, features like Web Workers and WebAssembly allow for multi-threading and almost native performance. The simulator allows for testing the architecture and as software is created we can refine the architecture as we discover what instructions, operations, and features are actually useful. This refines the design for physical implementation, either via FPGA, discrete components, ASIC, or custom chip.

My end goal pipe dream is a custom chip that is a complete T729 CPU with direct I/O. No helper/proxy ARM/binary core coprocessor like on ASIC shuttle services. This custom chip will go on a custom single board computer. The board can then go into a desktop or laptop setup.