u/Due-Claim1146

Over the past two semesters we’ve covered: logic gates, transistors, VHDL, assembly, microprocessors/microcontrollers, C, 8086, and a bunch of digital design fundamentals. Now I’m at the point where I want to apply what I’ve learned in a real project, and designing my own CPU/processor sounds like a neat idea. I’m curious what the actual process/pipeline looks like for doing something like this. Where do people usually start? Instruction set first? Architecture? HDL and FPGA prototyping? How do you bring it all together ? Also, what software/tools are commonly used for this (simulation, design, testing...). Ps: we're gonna do FPGA next semester Thanks a bunch !!