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[libreriscv.git] / 22nm_PowerPI.mdwn

diff --git a/22nm_PowerPI.mdwn b/22nm_PowerPI.mdwn
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--- a/22nm_PowerPI.mdwn
+++ b/22nm_PowerPI.mdwn
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 This is a page describing a proposed mass-volume SoC.  It outlines:
 
-* the NREs involved (realistically USD $7m, with headroom up to $12m preferred)
+* the Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs involved (realistically USD $7m, with headroom up to $12m preferred)
 * proposes a fair market price (around $12-13)
 * estimates a manufacturing cost (around $3.50 to $4)
 * realistic industry-standard timescales (12-18 months).
@@ -19,6 +19,38 @@ With enough direct customers, VC funding may not even be needed.  This is
 a preferred route that is not unreasonable and has been achieved before
 in the Silicon Industry.
 
+**This is a POWER PI candidate, but why was the Raspberry Pi successful?**
+
+As a dedicated Set-Top Box / IPTV solution, the initial Pi processor,
+the 700 mhz ARM11 BCM2835, was only available from Broadcomm in
+Minimum Order  Quantities (MOQ) of 5 million and above.  As a
+specialist Vertical Market Applications Processor, it was *not
+available* for use in products on the general market.
+
+The *only reason*
+that it went into the Raspberry Pi at all (selling in far smaller quantities) was because Eben Upton was an employee of Broadcom and had access to NDA'd internal datasheets.  Crucially: on
+learning that it was to be deployed in an Educational market, Broadcom
+could not exactly say "no".
+
+In eight years, 36 million "Pi" units have been sold.  However this is not
+all the same processor: there are four variants (Model A/B thru Pi 4). Thus
+actual quantities sold through the Pi Foundation of any one given processor
+average only around a million units, each processor.  As above: 1 million
+sales barely covers the NREs.
+
+In the intervening years, despite persistent requests on Pi Forums,
+even efforts by the Raspberry Pi Foundation themselves to see a non-Broadcom processor
+be developed and deployed have not been successful because a Pi-only-centric
+processor *does not have a large enough market share to justify the NREs*.
+
+**The lesson here is that a low-cost processor must cover multiple markets
+to be successful**.
+
+Consequently the Libre-SOC "POWER Pi" is designed to enter multiple
+disparate large-volume markets: the Educational and Open aspects
+may thus be considered an essential part of the P.R. rather than as
+major sales opportunities.
+
 # Specs for 22/28nm SOC
 
 **Overall goal: an SoC that is capable of meeting multiple markets:**
@@ -75,7 +107,7 @@ These are ballpark estimates:
 * USD 400,000 for engineer to perform layout to GDS-II
 * USD 1,000,000 for (LP)DDR3/4 which includes customisation by IP vendor
 * USD 250,000 for Libre-licensed DDR firmware (normally closed binary)
-* USD 250,000 for USB3/C
+* USD 250,000 for USB3.1/2/C
 * USD 250,000 for HDMI PHY (includes HDCP closed firmware: DVI may be better)
 * USD 50,000 for PCIe PHY
 * USD 50,000 for RGMII Ethernet PHY
@@ -118,7 +150,7 @@ NREs are still required**
  - Standard "Pi / Arduino" SoC-style interfaces including UART, I2C,
    SPI, GPIO, PWM, EINT, AC97.
 
-The "PI / Arduino" style interfaces are provided so as to be pin-comoatibke with the existing "Shield" 3rd party producy markets.
+The "PI / Arduino" style interfaces are provided so as to be pin-compatible with the existing "Shield" 3rd party producy markets.
 
 # Interfaces