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From: Smith on 19 Apr 2010 09:53
Hello all



I need to run an old firmware for a Siemens SAB 80C537 microcontroller unit
(MCU). The MCU is now obsolete (it's from the late 1980s).



The firmware is compiled from several thousand rows of assembly language. It
would take a long time to understand the code and re-program it in C.



So I'm thinking of using an 8051 IP-core for a FPGA and run the firmware
code without any changes to the code.



Any one here had any luck with this kind of problem?




From: Tilmann Reh on 19 Apr 2010 10:13
Smith schrieb:

> I need to run an old firmware for a Siemens SAB 80C537 microcontroller unit
> (MCU). The MCU is now obsolete (it's from the late 1980s).
>
> The firmware is compiled from several thousand rows of assembly language. It
> would take a long time to understand the code and re-program it in C.
>
> So I'm thinking of using an 8051 IP-core for a FPGA and run the firmware
> code without any changes to the code.

Unless you have an FPGA implementation of /exactly/ the 537, it probably
won't work. Remember that this MCU also contains very many special
function registers that most probably are used by the software, but not
covered by the available, more "generic", IP cores.

Several thousand lines of 8051 assembly, however, don't appear too much
to port. If you have the sources (as it sounds), you can probably find
the SFR-relevant code sections rather easily and port the application
(still in assembly language) to your new implementation on any current
8051 - or an IP-core in an FPGA.

Unless you have an FPGA in your new design anyway, I would however
suggest to look for a new flash-based 8051 MCU. It will probably be less
porting expense. Have a closer look /why/ the 537 was choosen for this
application - was it the number of ports, or any special peripheral
hardware function? Get a modern chip that fits these requirements best.

"Without any changes to the code" is not possible IMHO.

Tilmann
From: Stefan Brröring on 19 Apr 2010 10:29
Do you need one 80537, a few, or lots of MCUs?
From: Rich Webb on 19 Apr 2010 10:24
On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:53:25 +0200, "Smith" <smith(a)donotwantmail.com>
wrote:

>Hello all
>
>
>
>I need to run an old firmware for a Siemens SAB 80C537 microcontroller unit
>(MCU). The MCU is now obsolete (it's from the late 1980s).
>
>
>
>The firmware is compiled from several thousand rows of assembly language. It
>would take a long time to understand the code and re-program it in C.
>
>
>
>So I'm thinking of using an 8051 IP-core for a FPGA and run the firmware
>code without any changes to the code.

There are lots and lots of MCS-51 microcontrollers still on the market.
Silicon Labs, Atmel, and Infineon among many others. I'd look there
first, before committing to instantiating an FPGA core.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
From: Stefan Brröring on 19 Apr 2010 10:39
Look here:

http://www.littlediode.com/components/80C537_Integrated_Circuit.html?NO_COOKIE_WARNING=2&ti=ca697e2b03146363b5a9601ab6592a49&xid=60b420f64a0bf7ac68d8779fdb2b8008
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