Image: github.com · GitHub repository card for mysterymath/riscyv02-sky
RISCY-V02: a 16-bit CPU in the 6502's transistor budget
Built with Claude to test whether the 6502 was really the best design for its era: a two-cycle RISC-V-style CPU in the same footprint, taped out as an open design.
Credits
- Repository account mysterymath Source ↗
- HN submitter mysterymath Source ↗
Earliest dated source:
The full story
RISCY-V02 is a 16-bit processor that is pin-compatible with the 65C02, built with Claude to test whether the 6502 really was the best design for 1970s home computers. With memory limiting speed to about 1 MHz, it asks whether a RISC design in the same transistor budget would have done better, using two-cycle instructions.
It was designed for Tiny Tapeout on the SKY130 chip process, so it can be made as a real chip.
How it was done
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Sources
From the maker's own write-up or code. We summarise what they report; we haven't tested it ourselves.
- Hacker News: Show HN: RISCY-V02: A 16-bit 2-cycle RISC-V-ish CPU in the 6502 footprintRepository account: mysterymath
The design and its README.
- Hacker News discussion (7 points)HN submitter: mysterymathPosted
The Show HN post explaining the idea.