Initial QEMU support for Neorv32

[VideoGPU]

Hi, I have started to add QEMU machine model for the NEORV32 .
Currently UART and SPI flash work OK, I was able to run a bootloader + "Hello World" example from an emulated SPI flash file.
The goal is to add more and more features, interrupts, DMA, I2C..
The branch is here:
🔗 https://github.com/VideoGPU/qemu/tree/mlevit_neorv32_riscv_support
And a small readme is here:
🔗 https://github.com/VideoGPU/qemu/blob/mlevit_neorv32_riscv_support/docs/system/riscv/neorv32.rst

[stnolting]

Hey @VideoGPU.

Wow, that's pretty impressive!

I never work with QEMU myself (I'm still a HW person), but I think it could be very helpful for SW developers as a virtual prototype!

Thanks for sharing!

And a small readme is here:
🔗 https://github.com/VideoGPU/qemu/blob/mlevit_neorv32_riscv_support/docs/system/riscv/neorv32.rst

I'll have a closer look at this.

[VideoGPU]

Thanks!
Hope it would be useful, I am mostly in a SW world, and a HW is my hobby.
And I am using NeoRV32 for a few years now, since it is so simple to use, and to add a peripherals!
So this QEMU project, just for faster software workflow.

Michael.

[stnolting]

That's definitely it!

It's been a few years since I worked with QEMU... Do you happen to have a short documentation or example project somewhere to show how to use it to emulate NEORV32?

[VideoGPU]

Yes, actually I am preparing a small git with a more detailed docs and some binaries for testing the QEMU part.
Something like unit tests with expected output - like bootloader's menu or "Hello world" for example.
I believe it would be ready soon, will be glad to post here.

[stnolting]

That's great! Thank you very much! 👍