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My understanding is that only 32-bit SPARC is open. The 64-bit extensions are still proprietary, aren't they?
by hlandau 8y ago
My understanding is that only 32-bit SPARC is open. The 64-bit extensions are still proprietary, aren't they?
- rjsw 8y agoThe T1 and T2 are both 64-bit, the Verilog for them is GPLv2.
- djcapelis 8y agoThe verilog for the UltraSPARC T1 core is GPL. I have my own fork on a dev board they used to make for the purposes of researchers modifying it and giving a modified processor a spin. So... I don’t think so?
- hlandau 8y agoI'm talking about the patent licences for the ISA, not a specific core. Does the GPLv2 licence for the T1 confer a patent licence? If not, you'd probably need patent licences for the 64-bit ISA from Oracle to market something, AIUI. Whereas I believe 32-bit SPARC is an IEEE standard and royalty-free.
- blattimwind 8y agoSPARC V9 (which is the 64 bit version) lies with SPARC International. That doesn't necessarily extend to OSA2011/OSA2017, whose specifications are available from Oracle, but I wouldn't bet on their royalty-freeness.