235 Space CA

235 : Space CA

Design render

How it works

Space CA VGA Output

Space CA is a real-time hardware VGA demo ("Giant Computer in Space") that simulates and visualizes a 1D cellular automaton evolving over time against a procedural background starfield.

  • VGA Generator: Generates standard 640×480 @ 60 Hz timing from a 25.175 MHz pixel clock.
  • Cellular Automaton:
    • Grid width: 160 cells across the screen (GRID_W = 160), rendered as 4×4 pixel blocks (CELL_SIZE = 4).
    • Rule: 5-neighborhood toroidal elementary cellular automaton (RULE = 32'h6C1E53A8).
    • Evolution: Rows are computed line-by-line as the beam scans downwards, showing space horizontally and time vertically (120 generations per frame).
  • Coloring & Effects:
    • Active cells are colored using their 5-cell neighborhood window state ({1'b1, window}) mapped to 6-bit color (R2G2B2).
    • Procedural background starfield synthesized using integer hashing hardware (starfield module).
  • Memory:
    • Uses two latch banks (cells and first_row_cells) synthesized with IHP sg13g2_dlhq_1 latches to maintain the 160-bit state between scanlines and frame boundaries without consuming standard flip-flop area.
  • Interactive Controls:
    • ui_in[0] (advance_mode): Toggles between smooth 1-row vertical scrolling and jumping by a full frame.
    • ui_in[1] (inject_gliders): Injects gliders into cells 80..83 of row 0.

How to test

  1. Connect a standard Tiny Tapeout digital VGA PMOD to the output pins (uo_out).
  2. Provide a 25.175 MHz clock to clk.
  3. Set ena = 1 and release reset by setting rst_n = 1.
  4. Connect to a VGA display (640×480 @ 60 Hz).
  5. Use input switches to interact:
    • ui_in[0]: Toggle advance mode (0 = scroll 1 row/frame, 1 = full frame jump).
    • ui_in[1]: Toggle glider injection.

External hardware

  • Tiny Tapeout VGA PMOD (2 bits per color channel R2G2B2 + HSync + VSync)
  • VGA monitor supporting 640×480 @ 60 Hz

IO

#InputOutputBidirectional
0advance_modeR1
1inject_glidersG1
2B1
3VSync
4R0
5G0
6B0
7HSync

Chip location

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