开源硬件风潮能否影响芯片领域？

在位于美国硅谷的小办公室里， Windell H. Oskay 梦想着有一天开源处理器或SoC将点燃创新的熊熊烈火。 Oskay目前担任开源硬件协会(Open Source Hardware Association，OSHWA)的副主席，该协会是一个在2012年成立的非营利教育组织：“在 开源硬件的世界里，我最感到兴奋的就是开源处理 器核心；举例来说，开源处理器设计就能被实现于FPGA的软件中。” 今日的很多开源硬件设计，像是Oskay自己的小公司所销售的套件，是以 Arduino 或 Raspberry Pi 主板为基础；所谓的创客(maker)能接触并打造电路板等级架构，但其上的Atmel AVR或其他处理器他们就无法插手。

Oskay与Evil Mad Scientist 的共同创办人Lenore Edman
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Oskay在他开设的商店Evil Mad Scientist接受采访时表示：“当开源概念越来越普遍，应该可能让设计在各个层面更趋向开放；”这间小小店铺贩卖他针对开源硬件爱好者、以及教育应用所打造的相关产品与工具套件。 开源硬件除了对像是Oskay这种死忠创客来说就是很酷：“也有很多其他潜在优势──包括政治上与经济上的；”他解释，例如开源硬件能规避古巴、海地、朝鲜、伊朗等地的出口限制与禁运：“你会对那些实际障碍感到惊讶。” 在经济方面，开源硬件能让技术人员打造价格低廉的设备，为学校与开发中国家开了一扇门；举例来说，有人如果打算在非洲的尼日利亚(Nigeria)建立一 个小型的商业或是学术实验室，但没有足够的经费购买设备，开源硬件设计就能达成他的愿望，能以低廉的价格制作出便宜的设备：“我们常常听到这样的故事。” 开源芯片有可能会点燃热潮，但不会这么快。近十年前，之前的Sun Microsystems就开放了其Sparc处理器，但却没有得到显著的市场接受度；最近IBM也透露将开放Power处理器架构，但到目前为止仅有一家中国业者对成为其客户表示兴趣。 有 一个为执行Linux平台之开源ASIC筹募资金的产业团体Open Core组织，但到目前为止仅有452位支持者，募到2万2,742美元，距离百万美元甚至是能生产一颗芯片所需的成本还非常遥远。而虽然大型半导体业者 都投入了提供开源硬件参考设计的行列，他们对于自家的芯片IP仍然非常小心保护。 举例来说，Atmel与Broadcom并没有开放它们被应用于Arduino与Raspberry Pi主板的处理器；最近Intel也发表了可兼容于Arduino的开源Galileo主板，但是上面采用的Quark芯片架构并没有公开。 “整个芯片产业的经营模式仍是保护并销售IP；”Oskay认为，要突破现状还有待一家新创公司或是像Open Cores这样的组织来带头：“软件组织也可能为处理器打造开源核心，并有一个能销售驱动程序以支持其营运的生意模式。” 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：SoC会是开源硬件最大的对立面之一

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{pagination} Oskay表示，就像硬件的Red Hat那样，很多这类的案例都是由经费有限的一小群人开始的，然后吸引越来越多人的兴趣，它就成功了。不过生产开源芯片可能不会太受到欢迎，因为成本高昂；SoC会是开源硬件最大的对立面之一。 通常采购SoC的客户通常只会取得应用程序编程接口(API)以及一小部分的二进制编程软件，甚至是付费客户都还不一定能取得完整的芯片规格表。Oskay表示，在半导体领域之外，有一群来自广泛领域的工程师正准备开始探索开源硬件系统，包括汽车、家电以及测试仪器。 举例来说，美国凤凰城的Local Motors 让人们设计打造自己的车辆，包括轿车与摩托车；Oskay指出：“我有一个朋友自己设计了一辆电动跑车。”其他的开源硬件设计项目包括摄影机、自动化生产设备、研磨机，以及机器人、无人驾驶飞机、3D打印机等等。 “开源硬件活动数量非常多，但还缺乏一个中心组织；”这也是Oskay所代表的OSHWA希望在未来扮演的角色。目前开源硬件运动也少了一个游说团体，虽然OSHWA也针对与立法机关进行会议提供指导，主要是锁定在教育方面。 Oskay 表示，政府能为开源硬件项目所需的人力与材料提供研发贷款，也能提供机制来保护开源硬件的智能财产以及责任义务；他指出，虽然游说活动让一切事情变得 更困难了一些，但开源硬件倡导者拥有自己的游说团体是合理的发展，而且好消息是这样的活动催生了一系列开源工具。 Evil Mad Scientist采用支持Macs、Windows与Linux平台的PCB设计软件gEDA进行设计，现在则有更新的工具KiCad，窜起的速度非常 快且比gEDA更受欢迎；Oskay表示，设计工具非常重要，开源硬件的核心就是透过能分享的方式来释出原始设计档案，让其他人也能制作、修改、复制并 销售其设计。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Leading Maker Deams of Open Cores，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Leading Maker Dreams of Open Cores Rick Merritt SAN JOSE, Calif. -- From his small office in the heart of Silicon Valley, Windell H. Oskay dreams of the day when an open source processor or SoC catches fire, setting off a blaze of innovation. "The horizon [in open source hardware] I am most excited about is open cores, open source designs for processors that can be implemented in firmware in an FPGA, for example," said Oskay, the vice president of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA), an educational non-profit group started in 2012. Today many open source hardware designs, like the kits Oskay's small company sells, are based on Arduino or Raspberry Pi boards. Hackers can access and tinker with the board-level schematics, but when it comes to the Atmel AVR or other microcontrollers on them, it's hands off. "When open cores become more common it should be possible to make designs several layers more open," Oskay said in an interview at Evil Mad Scientist, the small shop where he makes and distributes hobbyist and educational kits and other products. Besides being just plain cool for a die-hard Maker like Oskay, "there are a number of possible benefits to open source hardware -- some political and some economic," he said. For instance, open source hardware circumvents export restrictions and embargoes in places like Cuba, North Korea, Haiti, and Iran. "You'd be surprised at the practical barriers." In terms of economics, open source hardware lets technical people build gear more cheaply than they could purchase it, opening doors for schools and developing countries. For instance, someone trying to set up a small commercial or academic lab in say Nigeria may not have the money for equipment. But if open source hardware designs were available, that person might be able to create the gear cheaply. "We hear stories like this all the time," he said. Accessing silicon crown jewels An open source chip could catch fire any day, but don't hold your breath waiting. The former Sun Microsystems opened up versions of its Sparc processor nearly a decade ago but they failed to gain significant traction. More recently, IBM said it would open up its Power architecture, but so far only one company in China has expressed interest as a customer. The Open Core group is raising funds for an open source ASIC that runs Linux, but so far has gathered just $22,742 from 452 people, far from the million dollars or more a mask set and manufacturing run might cost. Big semiconductor companies are jumping on the bandwagon of open source reference boards. But their chips' intellectual property remains carefully guarded corporate crown jewels. For example, Atmel and Broadcom do not make open their processors used on Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards, respectively. More recently, Intel announced its Arduino-compatible open source Galileo board, but the Quark chip on it remains closed. "The entire business model [for chip vendors] is protecting and selling that IP," said Oskay, who thinks the breakthrough will come from an enterprising startup or community effort such as Open Cores. "A software organization could make open cores for a processor and have a business model selling drivers and support for it," like a Red Hat of hardware, he said. "Many of these efforts are run by a small number of people without much funding, then people get excited about something and it takes off," he added. Creating open source chips is "not a popular sport because it's expensive." Indeed, SoCs are "one of the biggest opposites of open source hardware." These days SoC buyers typically get access only to an API and a "proprietary binary blob" of programming software. "Even if you are the paying customer you may not be able to get access to the entire datasheet." Windell and Evil Mad Scientist co-founder Lenore Edman prepare 555 educational kits for this weekend's Maker Faire Bay Area, where Windell will speak on behalf of OSHWA. Open source systems Beyond semiconductors, there's a broad horizon engineers are just starting to explore in systems using open source hardware -- including vehicles, appliances, and test gear, Oskay said. For instance, Local Motors of Phoenix lets people design and build their own vehicles from cars to motorcycles and scooters. On his own as a separate project, "I have a friend who has been building an electric Lamborghini." Other open source hardware efforts focus on cameras, pick-and-place machines, milling machines -- and of course lots of robotics, drones, and 3-D printers. "There are a huge number of open hardware initiatives, but there is not a central directory of them yet," something OSHWA hopes to provide in the future. Currently, the open source hardware movement lacks a lobby group. Although OSHWA provides guidelines on holding meetings with legislators, its focus is on education. The government could provide an R&D credit for the effort and material used in open source hardware projects, Oskay noted. It could also provide mechanisms to protect intellectual property and liability for open hardware, he added. "Since there are people lobbying for things making it harder for us, it would make sense" for open hardware advocates to have their own lobby group. The good news is the movement has spawned a handful of open source tools. Oskay's shop, Evil Mad Scientist, uses gEDA, pcb design software that runs on Macs, Windows, and Linux. A newer tool, KiCad, "is catching up very fast and is now more popular now than gEDA ever has been," Oskay said. The tools are important. "The core act of open hardware is to release original design files in such a way they are available for other people to make, modify, reproduce, and sell the design," he said.