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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Software source codes and hardware designs tend to be closely guarded trade secrets. But researchers recently made the full design of one of their microprocessors available as an open-source system [futurity.org].

You can download the entire source code, test programs, programming environment, and even the bitstream for the popular ZEDboard for free at www.pulp-platform.org/ [pulp-platform.org].

Luca Benin, a professor at ETH Zurich involved with the project, says making the system open source maximizes the freedom of other developers to use and change the system. “It will now be possible to build open-source hardware from the ground up.

“In many recent examples of open-source hardware, usage is restricted by exclusive marketing rights and non-competition clauses,” adds Benini. “Our system, however, doesn’t have any strings attached when it comes to licensing.”

The arithmetic instructions that the microprocessor can perform are also open source: The scientists made the processor compatible with an open-source instruction set developed at the University of California in Berkeley.

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