-This page really needs more/better content!
+## Why a Libre-SOC?
-# Who we are and why a LibreSOC
-Short paragraph on how a libreSOC makes sense from a business perspective...
+Its quite hard to guarantee that performant processors (think pipelined, out-of-order) are functionally perfectly correct. In fact, it often turns out that they [aren’t](https://meltdownattack.com).
-# Our Gameplan
-## Customer Discovery
+There are entire [dissertations](http://www.kroening.com/diss/diss-kroe.pdf) dedicated to the subject matter of merely functionally verifying a pipeline (this doesn’t even consider out of order execution).
-Who are our competitors(Intel, ARM, AMD?)
+Given the fact that performant bug-free processors no longer exist, how can you trust your processor? The next best thing is to have access to a processor’s design files. Not only have access to them, you must have the freedom to study, improve them, run the test suites and be able to improve those too. Not only that, you and everyone who has a stake in the success needs to be entirely free from NDAs and other restrictions which prevent and prohibit communication.
-Who might be on our side?(Samsung, IBM)
+*Collaboration, not competition*.
-What is our market size
+Such a processor is referred to as a Libre processor. However, processors themselves are only a part of the picture. Nowadays, most contemporary computing tasks involve artificial intelligence, media consumption, wireless connectivity, etc... Thus, we must deliver an entire Libre-SOC.
-Why are they going to buy this and why are customers not satisfied with what already exists on the market
+## Benefits: Privacy, Safety-Critical, Peace of Mind...
- - secure processors - safety critical applications like medical applications
- - DARPA doesn’t have to order parts in bulk for big contracts for fear of obsolescence. DARPA can change designs more frequently…
- - why is processor trust so important(SPECTRE MELTDOWN), JP Morgan recently replaced all their intel processors because of this
+Our Libre-SOC will not have backdoors that plague modern [processors](https://www.csoonline.com/article/3220476/researchers-say-now-you-too-can-disable-intel-me-backdoor-thanks-to-the-nsa.html).
-## Customer Validation
+There is a very real need for reliable safety critical processors (think airplane, smart car, nuclear power plant, pacemaker...).
+Libre-SOC posits that it is impossible to trust a processor in a safety critical environment without both access
+to that processor's source, a cycle accurate HDL simulator that guarantees developers their code behaves as they
+expect, and formal correctness proofs. An ISA level simulator is no longer satisfactory.
-Give it to potential customer (who might be some direct customers? OnePlus Chinese Phone Manufacturers??)
-
-Customer likes it.
-
-Customer gives letter of intent that they will purchase this product.
-
-## Customer Creation
-
-First customer leads to more customers.
-
-#Company Building
-
-Lots of customers = start focusing on building the company.
+Refer to this [IEEE article](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4519604) by Cyberphysical System expert Ed-Lee for more details.
projects / libreriscv.git / blobdiff