The QBox is a home DIY project that will be developed as a full
computer system. The system is produced by one man, who views it as
a personal successor to the Amiga.
I did this because if the Amiga should die
(I don't hope this, but the possibility is there...)
I don't want to use an industry standard
"PC".
In many ways, Project QBox is a development on the Classic Amiga
style of computing, similar to the Impulse
Multiprocessing system it is based upon the Motorola ColdFire
processor. A faster RISC implementation of the 68k used in the
Amiga. To be more specific the XCF5206e, rated at 54MHz. The author
has also taken a number of tips from the Amiga way of doing things,
including dedicated custom chips designed for specific tasks
(graphics, sound, etc). The processors are promises to support
hardware multitasking, allowing two layers of task scheduling- an
all-purpose task scheduler and a processor specific one controlling
particular functions, such as graphics. System performance of such
a system is higher than conventional computers through intelligent
task sharing, dividing a large task into smaller ones which can be
solved in parallel.
The Coldfire is particularly useful for this type of task,
allowing the author to create almost an entire computer without
having to use another computer platform such as an Amiga or
Windows. The first stage of the QBox design was to build the
developer system. This consists of an ColdFire 5206/25MHz, 2Mb PS/2
RAM, 256kb FlashROM, 2 Serial Interfaces, a BDM Debug port, an
ISA-Slot and a selfmade FPGA-board equipped with an Xilinx
XC4005XL.
After numerous designs and redesigns of the layout the "5206e
Adapter V1.0" CPU board was completed on the 24/2/1999. The next
task was to create a motherboard for the 5206e adapter to be
plugged into.
This would allow the connection of PS/2 RAM, GoldCap-buffered SRAM
and an I/O-Interface for a simple but fast network connection to
the Amiga via parallel port.
Three weeks later (21.03.99), the main board, dubbed the ppQBox had
been completed. The feature list included 256Kb buffered (GoldCap)
high speed SRAM, 1 - 64Mb PS/2 DRAM, network interface for data
exchange between the Amiga and the QBox, and 2 proprietary
expansion slots for additional hardware (Hard Disk, Sound, IO, GFX,
PCI-Slots).
Operating System
A computer is no use without an operating system. Like the AmigaOS,
the QBox uses a small preemptive Multitasking kernel, capable
of running over 20 Tasks. There is still a long way to go in the
operating systems development. With the addition of an
VGA-compatible graphics board and a IBM Keyboard interface later in
the year the author will begin to build a complete OS, called QOS.
The kernel is just the first stage of this, the file system,
IO-device and a simple text based DOS all need to be developed.
After this a friendly GUI interface will need to be developed. At
present this is planned to be fully coded in C++. Although nothing
exists of it yet the authors brother created a number of concept
designs of its general look, showing that the AmigaOS has played a
large part in the aesthetics of the user interface.
To read more about the project visit the QBox Home page.
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Last Update: 1/11/2001
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