Any open source chips out there? (Besides RISC-V and such)

[Arwen]

Since my time has increased, no commute, no leisure travel, I was thinking of following one of the open source hardware projects, but at the chip level. I already follow RISC-V, (an open source 32/64 bit CPU), which made more headway than OpenRISC in the same amount of time.

So, does anyone know of an open source chip or chip set for these functions?

• Gigabit Ethernet, (or better)
• SATA or SAS controller
• USB controller
• GPU

Their is some talk about an open source GPU based on RISC-V, but I don't know how well that will end up. And there is an open source UPS.

Probably somethings will be out of scope, like:

• Power supplies, (too much risk of, well death, if done poorly)
• Network over A.C., (aka powerline networking)
• WiFi, (far too much work to get it certified)
• Cable MODEM, (again getting it certified would take too much work)

And yes, I know this is really off topic. But, occasionally people find the weirdess things out on the web. So, if you have a clue, please share.

 

[mazarick]

I am in the same boat. I've got too much time on my hands and my interests are pretty much as you have stated (particularly RISC-V). I find it very unusual for a girl to be extremely conversant in RISC-V, TruNAS, and Open Source Hardware. I would like to invite you to have a conversation with me. I can see that you are a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ever read the "Lord of the Rings"?

 

[styno]

• WiFi, (far too much work to get it certified)

I recently stumbled upon this. They claim to be open source hardware, but I am not sure if that completely drills down to the chip level as well.

 

[mazarick]

Styno, I think about Risc-V, and find it is the "end of the line". What else can be done to lower the profit and revenue margins? You had stated thru your quote that you are interested in WiFi and had stumbled on this thread, probably as part of your research... I don't know who "they" are. I can't comment on whether "they" have a chip level solution or not until I know who "they" are...

 

[Arwen]

I recently stumbled upon this. They claim to be open source hardware, but I am not sure if that completely drills down to the chip level as well.

The 3 main chips, the SoC, Gigabit Ethernet chip and 2.4GHz WiFi, seem to all be from Qualcomm. That vendor tends to be less open about how to use it's chips features. At least from an outsider's point of view. It's possible that Qualcomm's main customer's sign a NDA, (Non-Disclosure Agreement), and get lots of documentation and such.

The POE, (Power Over Ethernet), does not seem standard. So it's not an IEEE 802.3af compatible.

All that said, glad someone is doing such things.

 

[joeschmuck]

I find it very unusual for a girl to be extremely conversant in RISC-V, TruNAS, and Open Source Hardware.

Not from where I worked at for the past 13 years, the women out numbered the men and the majority of the supervisors and managers were women. Honestly I really enjoyed it. I was in the Navy submarine force for 20 years and there is just so much guy talk that a person can handle. Working with women was easy, they make less impulsive decisions (in my experience) and now that I've moved back to a predominate male workforce, I miss it a lot. You will always have some men and some women who are unpleasant to be around but that was a rarity. So I don't find it rare to find an intelligent woman here on the forums at all.