3 ms·

Great initiative but worrysome execution. Can the team share why we can't buy chips in lots of 100, 1k or even 1M chips? $500k isn't enough for TSMC, so who'll

Great initiative but worrysome execution. Can the team share why we can't buy chips in lots of 100, 1k or even 1M chips? $500k isn't enough for TSMC, so who'll pay them? The ESP32 seems to have a much, much stronger story.

kasbah 10y ago
What your saying about the quantities makes sense but your comparison to ESP32 is strange as that isn't an open core at all.
sipos 10y ago
I think they are produced on wafers with other things so, presumably a third party is collecting together a load of stuff and having it made together.
carlosgd 10y ago
It is all about economies of scale, price will come down eventually. They have a reward with 15 chips per 199 + dev board. That goes $100/15 per chip.
RojasMilo 10y ago
Analog IPs are one of the most expensive part of the design. I hope these IPs will be free. Is there any voltage regulator?
- juliancely 10y ago
  I read in hackaday that Analogs IP will be open, But I couldn't find anything about voltage regulators.
handelsarache 10y ago
In the campain site they commented about getting an MPW and 70k chips. It seems like they are prototyping and getting some few number of wafers to get TSMC into it. The coolest thing is that they mentioned in http://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/mrisc-v-the-first-open-source-risc-v-microcontroller/ http://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/mrisc-v-the-first-open-source... comments that they will release chip schematics.
lerugue 10y ago
I think at some point the whole purpose of the project was completely lost: 1. What is offered in the ESP32 is completely different to what Open-V can bring to the table. ESP32 is not a microcontroller, is a platform for Wi-Fi and bluetooth applications, aim to be used in IoT apps. Does it have a microcontroller? Yes. Can you see what is inside? No. Do you have access to schematics and RTL code? No. Is it cheaper? Yes; and of course it is! Right now it is impossible to compete with big vendors at price levels. They have the triumph card when mass production is taken into account. 2. But wait, maybe you are thinking: what can I do with all this open information?. Do I really care to know how things work? Think about open-source software at its early beginnings; now think how open-source software has ushered in the last two decades of software innovation; the people that believe in this kind of projects, believes that open source silicon will unleash, as its software counterpart, a flood of innovation, hardware-wise. Imagine what could we do in a future, where small IC design startups could have access to any kind of RTL code or open silicon analog circuitry to build their own projects, to being able to use the Open-V code as a core, and add accelerators, peripherals, or whatever is needed. ENDLESS possibilities, but we have to start somewhere, and that's Open-V. I know I may have been too aggressive, but I'm just too passionate about this :)

kasbah 10y ago

What your saying about the quantities makes sense but your comparison to ESP32 is strange as that isn't an open core at all.

sipos 10y ago

I think they are produced on wafers with other things so, presumably a third party is collecting together a load of stuff and having it made together.

carlosgd 10y ago

It is all about economies of scale, price will come down eventually. They have a reward with 15 chips per 199 + dev board. That goes $100/15 per chip.

RojasMilo 10y ago

Analog IPs are one of the most expensive part of the design. I hope these IPs will be free. Is there any voltage regulator?

juliancely 10y ago
I read in hackaday that Analogs IP will be open, But I couldn't find anything about voltage regulators.

handelsarache 10y ago

In the campain site they commented about getting an MPW and 70k chips. It seems like they are prototyping and getting some few number of wafers to get TSMC into it. The coolest thing is that they mentioned in http://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/mrisc-v-the-first-open-source-risc-v-microcontroller/ http://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/mrisc-v-the-first-open-source... comments that they will release chip schematics.

lerugue 10y ago

I think at some point the whole purpose of the project was completely lost: 1. What is offered in the ESP32 is completely different to what Open-V can bring to the table. ESP32 is not a microcontroller, is a platform for Wi-Fi and bluetooth applications, aim to be used in IoT apps. Does it have a microcontroller? Yes. Can you see what is inside? No. Do you have access to schematics and RTL code? No. Is it cheaper? Yes; and of course it is! Right now it is impossible to compete with big vendors at price levels. They have the triumph card when mass production is taken into account. 2. But wait, maybe you are thinking: what can I do with all this open information?. Do I really care to know how things work? Think about open-source software at its early beginnings; now think how open-source software has ushered in the last two decades of software innovation; the people that believe in this kind of projects, believes that open source silicon will unleash, as its software counterpart, a flood of innovation, hardware-wise. Imagine what could we do in a future, where small IC design startups could have access to any kind of RTL code or open silicon analog circuitry to build their own projects, to being able to use the Open-V code as a core, and add accelerators, peripherals, or whatever is needed. ENDLESS possibilities, but we have to start somewhere, and that's Open-V. I know I may have been too aggressive, but I'm just too passionate about this :)