index.mdwn

   1 <div class="jumbotron">
   2   <h1 class="display-4">Welcome to Libre-SOC</h1>
   3 <blockquote>
   4   <p>We're building a chip. A fast chip. A safe chip. A trusted chip.</p>
   5
   6   <p>A chip with lots of peripherals. And a VPU.  And a 3D GPU...</p>
   7
   8   <p>Oh and here, have the <a href="http://git.libre-riscv.org">source code</a>...</p>
   9 </blockquote>
  10   <hr class="my-4">
  11
  12 <h2 class="display-4">Why should I care?</h2>
  13
  14 With LibreSOC, you can take complex algorithms usually intended for power
  15
  16 hungry servers with big fat GPUs, and run them on tiny devices like smartwatches,
  17
  18 cellphones, and pocket drones without changing your code at all.
  19   <hr class="my-4">
  20
  21 <h2 class="display-4">Hasn't Somebody Already Done This?</h2>
  22
  23 To the best of our knowledge, no. The closest systems would be ARM Cortex devices
  24
  25 which currently offer mediocre GPU and OpenCL support. Often times, it is quite
  26
  27 diffcult for customers to get their hands on the drivers and install them due to
  28
  29 their locked down nature. LibreSOC is providing our own Free/Libre drivers. Easy as
  30 1, 2, 3!
  31
  32   <hr class="my-4">
  33
  34 <h2 class="display-4">Does Open Hardware Really Work?</h2>
  35 <p>A few names come to mind:</p>
  36
  37 <ul>
  38 <li><a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org">Raspberry Pi</a></li>
  39 <li><a href="https://www.arduino.cc">Arduino</a></li>
  40 <li><a href="https://www.raptorcs.com">Raptor Computing Systems</a></li>
  41 <li><a href="https://www.scopefun.com">ScopeFun</a></li>
  42 </ul>
  43
  44   <p class="lead">
  45     <a class="btn btn-primary btn-lg" href="https://libre-soc.org/why_a_libresoc/" role="button">Learn more</a>
  46   </p>
  47
  48 </div>
  49 </div>
  50
  51
  52 # Our Team
  53
  54 We are proud of our talented and diverse [team](about_us).
  55
  56 # Our sponsors
  57
  58 * [Purism](http://puri.sm) donates to us through [NLNet](nlnet)
  59   charitable gifting
  60 * [Raptor CS](http://raptorcs.com) has given us access to a powerful
  61   18-core 128 GB RAM TALOS II workstation, online.
  62
  63 # How Can I Help?
  64
  65 If you would like to fund us, see [[funding]]. We currently have some
  66 funding and always appreciate more!  If you are a Corporation or an
  67 individual you can donate tax-free to NLNet, and they can in turn gift
  68 our developers.  Contact lkcl@lkcl.net for more information.
  69
  70 If you want to write code with us, keep reading.  If you want to *learn* so that you can write code with us, see below.  If there is anything else, just get in touch on the list, there is plenty to do.
  71
  72 1. First, join the
  73 [mailing list](http://lists.libre-riscv.org/mailman/listinfo/libre-riscv-dev),
  74 introduce yourself (people will happily say "hello" back"). Read through
  75 [recent posts](http://lists.libre-riscv.org/pipermail/libre-riscv-dev/)
  76 and the [[charter]], and let everyone know, on the list that you're
  77 happy with it and agree to it.
  78 2. The next thing you should do is read through the [bugs
  79 list](http://bugs.libre-riscv.org) and see if there are any bugs that
  80 pique your interest.
  81 3. After that, go ahead and take a look at the
  82    [git repositories](https://git.libre-riscv.org).
  83 Try and clone a repository with
  84 ``git clone https://git.libre-riscv.org/git/repositoryname.git``
  85 4. If you plan to do HDL work, you should familiarize yourself with our
  86    [[HDL_workflow]].
  87 5. We do have funding available (see [[nlnet]]) upon completion of issues -
  88 we are also working on procuring more funding which gets the project to
  89 nanometre scale tapeout.
  90 6. After all this, if you feel that Libre-SOC is a something that
  91 you would like to contribute to, add yourself to the [current_members](about_us)
  92 page, fill in some information about yourself, and join the mailing list
  93 and say hello.
  94
  95 Also note that you can edit this wiki.  You can experiment in the [[Sandbox]].
  96
  97 ## How can I learn?
  98
  99 The whole purpose of this project is to be a learning environment as well as an actual business.  If you want to learn how to do ASIC design, with a view to contributing or starting your own ASIC business, start here: [[3d_gpu/tutorial]]. Yes, really: do not let anyone tell you that you can't learn this stuff too.
 100
 101 Along the way, if you find any [[resources]] or links that you found particularly helpful, please add them to that page so that other people can also benefit (and you have a place to remember them, too).
 102
 103 ## Needed Skills
 104
 105 Most labor is currently being applied to developing the GPU portion of
 106 the Libre-SOC.
 107
 108 The highest priority needed at the moment is a c++ engineer to work on
 109 a MESA 3D driver. This will begin life similar to SwiftShader however
 110 retaining the vectorisation and predication intrinsics as well as hardware
 111 accelerated opcodes (all of which SwiftShader lacks)
 112
 113 Medium to long-term we need HDL engineers. Particularly those familiar
 114 with nMigen or just python.  Most of the techniques being used require
 115 software engineering skills (OO design, polymorphism) than they do more
 116 traditional HDL programming skills. Basically if you have experience in 2
 117 of the following you'll do fine: python, nmigen, verilog/VHDL/gate-level
 118 design. See [[HDL_workflow]]
 119
 120 Also, individuals with experience in formal mathematical verification
 121 are quite welcome.
 122