Tiny-gpu is an educational hardware emulator designed to model the fundamental operations of a graphics processing unit. It provides a software environment that simulates hardware data flow and parallel computing logic, allowing users to visualize the internal execution cycles and memory structures characteristic of graphics hardware.
The project distinguishes itself by implementing a cycle-accurate execution model that tracks the progression of operations through discrete processing steps. It utilizes a fixed-function pipeline to process geometric data through sequential transformation and rasterization stages, while employing instruction-level parallelism to execute graphics instructions across multiple data elements simultaneously.
This framework supports the study of graphics pipeline development and parallel computing by mapping scalar inputs into vector data streams. It maintains internal register-based state management to track data evolution during shader program execution, providing a platform for exploring high-performance computing concepts through the simulation of hardware pipelines.
