index.mdwn

   1 <div class="jumbotron">
   2   <h1 class="display-5">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-5">Why should I care?</h2>
  13
  14 With LibreSOC, you can take complex algorithms usually intended for
  15 power hungry servers with big fat GPUs, and run them on tiny devices
  16 like smartwatches, cellphones, and pocket drones without changing your
  17 code at all.
  18
  19   <hr class="my-4">
  20
  21 <h2 class="display-5">Hasn't Somebody Already Done This?</h2>
  22
  23 To the best of our knowledge, no. The closest systems would be ARM Cortex
  24 devices which currently offer mediocre GPU and OpenCL support. Often
  25 times, it is quite diffcult for customers to get their hands on the
  26 drivers and install them due to their locked down nature. LibreSOC is
  27 providing our own Free/Libre drivers. Easy as 1, 2, 3!
  28
  29   <hr class="my-4">
  30
  31 <h2 class="display-5">Does Open Hardware Really Work?</h2>
  32 <p>A few names come to mind:</p>
  33
  34 <ul>
  35 <li><a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org">Raspberry Pi</a></li>
  36 <li><a href="https://www.arduino.cc">Arduino</a></li>
  37 <li><a href="https://www.raptorcs.com">Raptor Computing Systems</a></li>
  38 <li><a href="https://www.bitcraze.io">CrazyFlie</a></li>
  39 <li><a href="https://www.scopefun.com">ScopeFun</a></li>
  40 </ul>
  41
  42   <p class="lead">
  43     <a class="btn btn-primary btn-lg" href="https://libre-soc.org/why_a_libresoc/" role="button">Learn more</a>
  44
  45 </div>
  46
  47
  48
  49 # Our Team
  50
  51 We are proud of our talented and diverse [team](about_us).
  52
  53 # Our sponsors
  54
  55 * [Purism](http://puri.sm) donates to us through [NLNet](nlnet)
  56   charitable gifting
  57 * [Raptor CS](http://raptorcs.com) has given us access to a powerful
  58   18-core 128 GB RAM TALOS II workstation, online.
  59
  60 # How Can I Help?
  61
  62 If you would like to fund us, see [[funding]]. We currently have some
  63 funding and always appreciate more!  If you are a Corporation or an
  64 individual you can donate tax-free to NLNet, and they can in turn gift
  65 our developers.  Contact lkcl@lkcl.net for more information.
  66
  67 If you want to write code with us (and receive donations from NLNet
  68 for doing so), keep reading.  If you want to *learn*
  69 so that you can write code with us, see below.  If there is anything else,
  70 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
  84     pip3 install virtualenv requests
  85     mkdir ~/.virtualenvs && cd ~/.virtualenvs
  86     python3 -m venv libresoc
  87     source ~/.virtualenvs/bin/activate
  88
  89     cd ~; mkdir libresoc; cd libresoc
  90     git clone https://git.libre-riscv.org/git/nmutil.git
  91     git clone https://git.libre-riscv.org/git/ieee754fpu.git
  92     git clone https://git.libre-riscv.org/git/soc.git
  93
  94     cd nmutil; pip3 install -e .; cd ..
  95     cd ieee754fpu; pip3 install -e .; cd ..
  96     cd soc; pip3 install -e .; cd ..
  97
  98     python3 soc/src/soc/decoder/power_decoder.py
  99
 100
 101 4. If you plan to do HDL work, you should familiarize yourself with our
 102    [[HDL_workflow]].
 103 5. We do have funding available (see [[nlnet]]) upon completion of issues -
 104 we are also working on procuring more funding which gets the project to
 105 nanometre scale tapeout.
 106 6. After all this, if you feel that Libre-SOC is a something
 107    that you would like to contribute to, add yourself to the
 108    [current_members](about_us) page, fill in some information about yourself,
 109    and join the mailing list and say hello.
 110
 111 Also note that you can edit this wiki.  You can experiment in the [[Sandbox]].
 112
 113 ## How can I learn?
 114
 115 The whole purpose of this project is to be a learning environment as well
 116 as an actual business.  If you want to learn how to do ASIC design, with
 117 a view to contributing or starting your own ASIC business, start here:
 118 [[3d_gpu/tutorial]]. Yes, really: do not let anyone tell you that you
 119 can't learn this stuff too.
 120
 121 Along the way, if you find any [[resources]] or links that you found
 122 particularly helpful, please add them to that page so that other people
 123 can also benefit (and you have a place to remember them, too).
 124
 125 ## Needed Skills
 126
 127 Most labor is currently being applied to developing the GPU portion of
 128 the Libre-SOC.
 129
 130 The highest priority needed at the moment is a c++ engineer to work on
 131 a MESA 3D driver. This will begin life similar to SwiftShader however
 132 retaining the vectorisation and predication intrinsics as well as hardware
 133 accelerated opcodes (all of which SwiftShader lacks)
 134
 135 Medium to long-term we need HDL engineers. Particularly those familiar
 136 with nMigen or just python.  Most of the techniques being used require
 137 software engineering skills (OO design, polymorphism) than they do more
 138 traditional HDL programming skills. Basically if you have experience in 2
 139 of the following you'll do fine: python, nmigen, verilog/VHDL/gate-level
 140 design. See [[HDL_workflow]]
 141
 142 Also, individuals with experience in formal mathematical verification
 143 are quite welcome.