Who have used the open core of 8051 CPU? Could you please recommend one to me? And I want to know if the open core can be used in a product securely. Thanks.
Hi,
I have tested a very nice core from Oregano ( version 1.4 ). It runs smoothly on the Spartan-3.
I managed to run it at 38MHZ system clock. Considering that Oregano is a modified core this speed is roughly equivalent to some 250MHz classic 8051 with a 12cycle core. I tested it with several programs and noticed no single fault. It also has got interrupt handling and all standard peripherals implemented. Of course you need to adjust RAM, RAMX and ROM blocks to your FPGA, and provide some BIN->ROM translation. As far as I know you are free to use the core for noncommercial purposes. You may ask the designer for further explanation.
Regards, yego