The rise of free processors !

ixindamix (65)in #opensource • 8 years ago

We tend to believe that free and open source only applies to the software domain. Yet, if we follow this logic, the vast majority of computer systems, if not all of them, operate with manufactured materials that are governed by a whole battery of proprietary patents. Belonging to large conglomerates, these technologies do not under any circumstances allow the development of amateur projects, on a larger or smaller scale, in line with the philosophy of free or open source. In order to overcome this problem, which limits usage rights to consumers, many projects are gradually being developed to open up the design and programming of home or professional hardware.

A supervision in the same way as software !

Based on the guidelines of the FSF and its famous free GPL license, the free hardware movement, in agreement with the various stakeholders, has established a set of rules defining Open Hardware. There are different types of them, with different variants according to the uses concerned. However, all agree on four essential freedoms that serve as a basis for the design and use of the equipment in question:

Freedom 1: The freedom to use the product for all purposes.

Freedom 2: The freedom to study the functioning of the product (as well as the software parts), to make copies of the product, and to adapt it to your needs.
Product operating diagrams, parts list and assembly drawing must be available.
The software parts must also be free.

Freedom 3: The freedom to make and redistribute copies of the said product (as well as software parts), thus helping others.

Freedom 4: The freedom to improve the product (as well as its software parts) and to publish its improvements, for the benefit of the entire community.

From this approach, several different types of licences are derived :

The TAPR free hardware license : established by the progenitors of the open-source movement (Eric S. Raymond and Bruce Perens), with a legal framework and recognized in the eyes of the law.
CERN Open Hardware Licence : Created by CERN and used mainly for the manufacture of the Colorhug2 calibration probe but also (and more surprisingly) for the development of the Free Beer !
Hardware Design Public License : written by Graham Seaman, administrator of Opencollector.org.

This structure thus defined provides a framework for building community projects based on microcomputing. More generally, initiatives focusing on chipsets and programmable processors (FPGAs) have emerged. More than an alternative to the market offer, this is a real revolution that undertakes to deliver a much more ethical technology and conducive to the contribution of everything to everyone.

OpenSPARC

Before its acquisition by Oracle, Sun Microsystems unveiled in 2006 the manufacturing sources of its in-house processor : SPARC. Based on a RISC architecture, this CPU was designed to replace the aging Motorolla 68000 used on SUN-3 workstations. This open source hardware project began in December 2005 with the public release of the logical system description, giving rise to the UltraSPARC T1 a few months later. This was followed by a revised version with the UltraSPARC T2 with up to 8 cores and 64 Threads ! Essentially reserved for the server market, this range of processors included the GPL license.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/index.html

OpenRISC

Proposed by the OpenCores community, the OpenRISC project aims to develop RISC-type processors for the consumer market. The implementation of this technology focuses on the use of an FPGA that allows the possibility to modify the architecture at any time. With an educational trend, the processor is officially supported by the Linux kernel, starting with version 3.11 released in 2011. We find in its instruction set the default presence of the GNU toolchain, managing the compilation of tools programmed in C language.

https://opencores.org/?do=project&who=or1k&page=openrisc%201200

RISC-V / LowRISC

Undoubtedly the most ambitious and also the most followed project, RISC-V is an architecture with completely free 64-bit instruction sets. Originally developed by the Information Division of the University of Berkeley, RISC-V was the subject of many experiments until it became compatible with Qemu virtualization. This news during this year suggests the possibility of using this architecture for personal use, such as the installation and use of a compatible operating system.

LowRISC is the code name for the ASIC or FPGA port of the RISC-V technology. This initiative, led by Robert Mullins, co-founder of Raspberry Pi, plans to offer a low-cost microcomputer solution, not only for the consumer but also for third-party manufacturers !

https://www.lowrisc.org/

Will the hardware market soon change to free software? Nothing is certain yet. Still, this is quite an advance in the direction of users. To be continued !