CamelForth

Robert Edwards has advised me of the availability of a Z8 Forth:

CamelForth version 1.4 for the 8052 and Silicon Labs (formerly Cyngal) C8051F is now available for download. This is a customized version of CamelForth/8051 which runs entirely within the 256-byte RAM space of the 8052 -- including the text interpreter.

This can be optionally assembled to run on the Silicon Labs (Cygnal) C8051F, again using 256 bytes of on-chip RAM. On this processor, new definitions can be compiled directly to the on-chip Flash ROM. After an application is compiled, the RAM contents can be saved to Flash ROM to be automatically loaded on reset. Also, a user-defined word can be automatically run on reset.

Also included are experimental source code for TO-variables, Special Function Register access, and adding machine code definitions. Note that, because of the limited RAM, this does not include the 8051 multitasker.

Harold Rabbie has contributed a CamelForth port for the RCA 1802 "COSMAC" microprocessor. This is available for download from this site, as is the MS-DOS 1802 cross-assembler that you will need to compile the code.

CamelForth/1802 runs on an 1802 simulator. C language source code for that simulator is included in the download, and can be compiled for Windows (using Cygwin) or Linux. The simulator includes the ability to trace execution at either the machine code or Forth level. It should be straightforward to modify the serial I/O drivers and memory map to run on any 1802 hardware that supports an RS-232 terminal.

Questions can be addressed to the author on the forum.

I've decided to start fleshing out the "links" section of the CamelForth site, with links to more Forth resources. I've begun with the Forth Interest Group and the Forth Interest Group UK. I'll probably add links in pairs, every few days, since the latest two links are featured in the right column.

CamelForth version 0.2 for the Texas Instruments MSP430 is now available for download. This is the first release, and should be considered "Alpha Test" code at the present time.

CamelForth/430 is currently compiled for the New Micros Tini430 board (MSP430F1611 chip), but it should be usable on any MSP430 family processor with at least 512 bytes of RAM, 8K of Flash ROM, and a USART for serial I/O. You will need the free IAR Embedded Workbench Kickstart to compile CamelForth/430.

This implementation of CamelForth features direct-to-flash compilation, which means that your Forth programs can be downloaded and compiled directly into the 40K of available Flash memory on the MSP430F1611, and 9.5K of RAM is available for your application data. (8K of Flash, and 0.5K of RAM, is used by the CamelForth kernel.) For more information about the use of Flash ROM, see the included "readme" file.

I received an email from David F., the author of muFORTH. muFORTH is an x86 Forth for Linux systems, but David is working on porting muFORTH to several embedded CPUs -- the ARM, AVR, and Freescale HCS08 have been mentioned.

Judging from his blog I think the HCS08 is the first priority. (We met when I posted, on the Freescale forum, a question about downloading to 'S08 parts. No, I'm not doing an 'S08 Forth at this time...my query was for an unrelated project.)

Some friends sent me this bit of news. If you've been wondering what Chuck Moore, the inventor of the Forth language, is doing these days, he's still working on Forth chips. He's now Chief Technology Officer at IntellaSys, whose new product is the SEAForth 40C18, a 40-processor array of Forth engines ("25 billion operations per second").

Obviously, I won't be porting CamelForth to this chip -- it already has a Forth implementation. Someday, when my free time becomes more copious, and I've caught up with other projects, I wouldn't mind playing with one of these.

We do seem to attract hardware developers! I received a request from another data sheet search engine, datasheetdir.com, for a link and a mention on this page. I'm happy to oblige. I know how difficult it is to find data sheets for some parts.

Their web site seems to be most easily used as a search engine for a specific part number. You can also browse by parts category, but there are so many chips made for almost every function that you'll be overloaded by the selection.

I received a request for a link exchange from Datasheet Archive. They are a useful resource when you are working with obscure -- or obsolete! -- microcontrollers. (I found a data sheets for the MC6809, CDP1802, and even the IM6102; I wonder if they could be persuaded to add programmers' reference guides?) So, it seemed like a good fit for the CamelForth web page.

That's when I realized that I did not move the links page over from the old HTML CamelForth pages to the new e107 system. So I've now installed the "Links Page" feature of e107, which you can access by clicking "Links" on the main menu. Right now there are just two links, but I'll be adding more links to Forth and embedded controller resources as the days pass.

If you have a site which is relevant to embedded Forth programmers, and you wish a link exchange, simply send me a request via the "Contact" form.

Since I haven't had any news items to post lately, I'm going to invoke "webmaster privilege" and stick in a good word for the folks at New Micros.



If you've been using Forth in embedded systems for any length of time, you've probably heard of Randy Dumse and his company, New Micros. They got started over two decades ago offering one of the first (if not the first) single-board-computers with built-in Forth; and I think they were the first to offer Forth-on-a-chip (the F68HC11). These days they offer an amazing array of processors and peripherals, including the IsoPod, which I'm proud to have had a hand in creating. They remain committed to Forth and the Forth community.

I'm looking forward to porting CamelForth to their Tini430^tm, TiniAVR^tm, and TiniARM^tm. (This year, if all goes well.)

Full disclosure: I have done contract work for New Micros in the past, and I may very well do so in the future. But they are not paying for advertising space on this site; nor have they asked.