ColdFire is the name of a series of CPU's for Freescale that (try to) remain compatible with Motorola 68000 to 68060 series. Modifying 680x0 assemblers is a relative short exercise.
None of the
ColdFire versions are pin compatible with each other, or any of the Motorola chip configurations, and the last version, the v5e (version five edition) is not supplied in a format usable in a traditional way, as the original Motorola CPU's are, and the still available v3e, v4e and v4m of the
ColdFire series.
The
ColdFire package is build around a FPGA, enabling custom packages, include hardware emulation. There is enough room in the FPGA to store all the VHDL from the Suska Atari STE project, minus the 68000, plus a DSP 56000 (56KDSP) an IDE HD emulation. This includes the STE DAC (DMA sound), a YM2149 PSG, VIDEL video shifter, etc.
In general
ColdFire have no FPU, requiring a Line-F emulator. Line-A is not possible as it instructs the CPU in a non-Line-A function. Registers are all 32bit, including 32bit aligned binaries (regular 16bit alignment will cause stack failures and corruption).
ColdFire CPU's also lack a couple of instructions (2) that cause bus errors when issued, but most missing instruction can successfully be trapped, as is done with the new Atari Falcon Clone, the
FireBee, to emulate a 68060.
ColdFire CPU's can be found in the the following hardware:
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