business_plan/discussion.mdwn

   1 # Links
   2
   3 * <http://lists.libre-soc.org/pipermail/libre-soc-dev/2020-December/001756.html>
   4 * <https://mondaynote.com/three-slides-you-re-nuts-ok-how-about-seven-8f5207b62285>
   5 * <https://mondaynote.com/three-slides-then-shut-up-the-art-of-the-pitch-85221afe993a>
   6
   7 # Questions and Comments
   8
   9 * Cole: We claim that our first product will be a GbE router featuring up to to USB *2* ports. The maximum bandwidth of USB2 is 480Mb/s whereas the maximum bandwidth of USB3 is 5Gb/s. Is this a typo? or is the plan to provide 0.96Gb/s total, 0.48Gb/s to each of the two USB ports?
  10
  11 lkcl: 5 gigabit ethernet ports. 2 USB2 ports. this is 7 ports.
  12
  13 Cole: Thanks for the clarification this makes sense. The edit you made to this description on the page is more clear than its previous form.
  14
  15 # Wording from Lauri
  16
  17 Something like this:
  18
  19 The open development model and freely licensed end product would allow
  20 a skilled competitor to copy us before our product is out. However,
  21 given the startup costs involved, they would only do so for highly
  22 lucrative markets. Otherwise they would copy the product only once it
  23 has proven successful, giving us a lead time of several years.
  24
  25 The markets where core licensing cost is significant, and volumes
  26 sufficient are roughly:
  27 - ESP-like internet-of-things
  28 - digital set-top box/mini console
  29 - low-end phones
  30
  31 Our core is expected to have a die area of XX mm2 at XX nm. The ESP
  32 series is around 0.15 mm2 at 90nm; each mm2 on older nodes costs on the
  33 order of 0.05$ (0.25$ for 5nm) for the wafer alone. For ESP-like
  34 applications, the core being free would not offset the larger area.
  35
  36 Set-top-boxes or mini consoles would be a viable target for them only
  37 once driver support existed. Copying us in-progress would show such
  38 high confidence in us that they'd be better off investing in us
  39 directly.
  40
  41 Low-end phones rely on the modem being integrated. Integration work may
  42 only begin in earnest once the core is relatively far along, losing
  43 them some time edge; and before they have the core and modem
  44 integrated, they can't assess the total power usage, necessary for this
  45 market.