3 ms·

They intentionally chose an old design because they know all the patents have expired. Thus, they don't have to worry about licensing woes or anything like that

They intentionally chose an old design because they know all the patents have expired. Thus, they don't have to worry about licensing woes or anything like that. There are a number of situations where you don't need a fast processor, just a processor that is fast enough. Additionally, an older core means it's a smaller core, so they can stick more of them on an FPGA if they need to respond to several realtime events at once.

nickpsecurity 10y ago
And not just for ISA, there's tons of patents on everything from the microarchitecture optimizations to ways of synthesizing things. "Up-to-date" textbooks that today's academics are using probably include plenty of infringing material because a good part of why they learn that is to eventually work for patent-holding firms to improve their I.P.. On the flip side, trade secrets obscure many great tricks in this industry, esp for analog, to try to reduce number of patent suits they get hit with if they expose their constructions. Plus for competitive advantage with consideration for cloners that ignore patent rules. So, one says we can't use many, good techniques where another says we can't know it. The "joys" of OSS hardware...
- progman 10y ago
  I consider it completely sufficient if there is any true OSS hardware which is able to run Linux with acceptable performance. Of course big applications like LibreOffice won't make fun on such systems. However we have TeX etc. which runs well even on small systems. I remember writing my own TeX documents on an 8 MHz Atari ST, and it worked well! I agree with the previous poster: "you don't need a fast processor, just a processor that is fast enough." If some day we had a small OSS cpu for Linux with acceptable performance which could be implemented in pure SMD like the monster 6502 - that would be nice!
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    I always repost the same ones: http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/processors/leon3 http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/processors/leon3 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/index.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/index.ht... Gaisler would be easier one to implement in ASIC. The Leon4 is a 4-core variant. In any case, the Leon3 and key I.P. are GPL'd specifically for open-source to build on it. SPARC ISA only require $99 fee to use SPARC-compatible line. OSS people just keep ignoring it. Meanwhile, academics have built on it and the Leon3FT variant is often used in space applications. So, get either booting on a FPGA, install Linux, and have at it. :)
    - progman 10y ago
      Leon and SPARC are nice to have. OpenRISC also looks appealing. http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323406 http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=13234... https://speakerdeck.com/asb/lowrisc-plans-for-risc-v-in-2016 https://speakerdeck.com/asb/lowrisc-plans-for-risc-v-in-2016 https://kevinmehall.net/openrisc/guide/ https://kevinmehall.net/openrisc/guide/ https://github.com/riscv https://github.com/riscv
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
        RISC-V is the best open one to get on right now. The ISA is well-designed plus open. There are simulators, high-speed CPU's, compilers, and so on for it. Surprisingly, many big companies are also backing it on top of the academics doing it. There's at least a dozen RISC-V implementations in progress. Many examples here: http://www.lowrisc.org/blog/2016/01/third-risc-v-workshop-day-two/ http://www.lowrisc.org/blog/2016/01/third-risc-v-workshop-da... Arduino-style implementation: https://github.com/pulp-platform/pulpino https://github.com/pulp-platform/pulpino Note: OpenRISC is not RISC-V. It was a competing ISA that's fallen to the wayside as RISC-V's popularity soared. It did get used in Milkymist IIRC. Best to ignore it except maybe out of personal curiosity in favor of RISC-V and SPARC.
        progman 10y ago
        Also very interesting: http://hwacha.org http://hwacha.org
  - snaky 10y ago
    The main problem with software is web browser these days. You can find niche browser engines that would be somewhat lightweight, but 80% of sites would not work correct with them.

nickpsecurity 10y ago

And not just for ISA, there's tons of patents on everything from the microarchitecture optimizations to ways of synthesizing things. "Up-to-date" textbooks that today's academics are using probably include plenty of infringing material because a good part of why they learn that is to eventually work for patent-holding firms to improve their I.P.. On the flip side, trade secrets obscure many great tricks in this industry, esp for analog, to try to reduce number of patent suits they get hit with if they expose their constructions. Plus for competitive advantage with consideration for cloners that ignore patent rules. So, one says we can't use many, good techniques where another says we can't know it. The "joys" of OSS hardware...

progman 10y ago
I consider it completely sufficient if there is any true OSS hardware which is able to run Linux with acceptable performance. Of course big applications like LibreOffice won't make fun on such systems. However we have TeX etc. which runs well even on small systems. I remember writing my own TeX documents on an 8 MHz Atari ST, and it worked well! I agree with the previous poster: "you don't need a fast processor, just a processor that is fast enough." If some day we had a small OSS cpu for Linux with acceptable performance which could be implemented in pure SMD like the monster 6502 - that would be nice!
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  I always repost the same ones: http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/processors/leon3 http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/processors/leon3 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/index.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/index.ht... Gaisler would be easier one to implement in ASIC. The Leon4 is a 4-core variant. In any case, the Leon3 and key I.P. are GPL'd specifically for open-source to build on it. SPARC ISA only require $99 fee to use SPARC-compatible line. OSS people just keep ignoring it. Meanwhile, academics have built on it and the Leon3FT variant is often used in space applications. So, get either booting on a FPGA, install Linux, and have at it. :)
  - progman 10y ago
    Leon and SPARC are nice to have. OpenRISC also looks appealing. http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323406 http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=13234... https://speakerdeck.com/asb/lowrisc-plans-for-risc-v-in-2016 https://speakerdeck.com/asb/lowrisc-plans-for-risc-v-in-2016 https://kevinmehall.net/openrisc/guide/ https://kevinmehall.net/openrisc/guide/ https://github.com/riscv https://github.com/riscv
    - nickpsecurity 10y ago
      RISC-V is the best open one to get on right now. The ISA is well-designed plus open. There are simulators, high-speed CPU's, compilers, and so on for it. Surprisingly, many big companies are also backing it on top of the academics doing it. There's at least a dozen RISC-V implementations in progress. Many examples here: http://www.lowrisc.org/blog/2016/01/third-risc-v-workshop-day-two/ http://www.lowrisc.org/blog/2016/01/third-risc-v-workshop-da... Arduino-style implementation: https://github.com/pulp-platform/pulpino https://github.com/pulp-platform/pulpino Note: OpenRISC is not RISC-V. It was a competing ISA that's fallen to the wayside as RISC-V's popularity soared. It did get used in Milkymist IIRC. Best to ignore it except maybe out of personal curiosity in favor of RISC-V and SPARC.
      - progman 10y ago
        Also very interesting: http://hwacha.org http://hwacha.org
- snaky 10y ago
  The main problem with software is web browser these days. You can find niche browser engines that would be somewhat lightweight, but 80% of sites would not work correct with them.