8-bit programmable computer

8-bit programmable computer
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Pattern type	Miscellaneous
Number of cells	1571767
Bounding box	311607 × 303995
Discovered by	Nicolas Loizeau
Year of discovery	2016
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B3/S23 only # of rules 20 = 1
Pattern files Macrocell 8bitcomputer.mc

8-bit programmable computer is an implementation of an 8-bit computer in Conway's Game of Life designed and built in 2016 by Nicolas Loizeau. An improved scalable version of the design with optimized circuitry, a 32x32 pixel display, and instructions to handle arrays was created in 2021.

Architecture

The computer supports eight variables and 13 instructions -- write, goto, move, jumpif, print, add, or, and, xor, not, flat, sign, and increment. The computer is programmed by changing the arrangement of structures in its Program area.

The improved version possesses two more instructions, shift and rotate, as well as a display that uses disp and erase instructions.

Comparison with other computer patterns

• The 8-bit programmable computer is considerably simpler than the Spartan universal computer-constructor, in large part because it does not contain a universal construction component.
• It is easy to program with the help of the associated Python utility script, assembly.py, and associated resources which can be found in the project's GitHub repository.
• It is capable of performing standard 8-bit AND, OR, XOR, and NOT operations using any of its eight variables. The improved version can process up to 128 variables, which can be 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit. Additionally, the improved version can use its variables as addresses that can be read from or written to.

External links

• Nicolas Loizeau. "GOL computer". GitHub.
• Nicolas Loizeau. "Scalable GOL computer". GitHub.