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
  50
  51 </div>
  52
  53 # Our Team
  54
  55 We are proud of our talented and diverse [team](about_us).
  56
  57 # Our sponsors
  58
  59 * [Purism](http://puri.sm) donates to us through [NLNet](nlnet)
  60   charitable gifting
  61 * [Raptor CS](http://raptorcs.com) has given us access to a powerful
  62   18-core 128 GB RAM TALOS II workstation, online.
  63
  64 # How Can I Help?
  65
  66 If you would like to fund us, see [[funding]]. We currently have some
  67 funding and always appreciate more!  If you are a Corporation or an
  68 individual you can donate tax-free to NLNet, and they can in turn gift
  69 our developers.  Contact lkcl@lkcl.net for more information.
  70
  71 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.
  72
  73 1. First, join the
  74 [mailing list](http://lists.libre-riscv.org/mailman/listinfo/libre-riscv-dev),
  75 introduce yourself (people will happily say "hello" back"). Read through
  76 [recent posts](http://lists.libre-riscv.org/pipermail/libre-riscv-dev/)
  77 and the [[charter]], and let everyone know, on the list that you're
  78 happy with it and agree to it.
  79 2. The next thing you should do is read through the [bugs
  80 list](http://bugs.libre-riscv.org) and see if there are any bugs that
  81 pique your interest.
  82 3. After that, go ahead and take a look at the
  83    [git repositories](https://git.libre-riscv.org).
  84 Try and clone a repository with
  85 ``git clone https://git.libre-riscv.org/git/repositoryname.git``
  86 4. If you plan to do HDL work, you should familiarize yourself with our
  87    [[HDL_workflow]].
  88 5. We do have funding available (see [[nlnet]]) upon completion of issues -
  89 we are also working on procuring more funding which gets the project to
  90 nanometre scale tapeout.
  91 6. After all this, if you feel that Libre-SOC is a something that
  92 you would like to contribute to, add yourself to the [current_members](about_us)
  93 page, fill in some information about yourself, and join the mailing list
  94 and say hello.
  95
  96 Also note that you can edit this wiki.  You can experiment in the [[Sandbox]].
  97
  98 ## How can I learn?
  99
 100 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.
 101
 102 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).
 103
 104 ## Needed Skills
 105
 106 Most labor is currently being applied to developing the GPU portion of
 107 the Libre-SOC.
 108
 109 The highest priority needed at the moment is a c++ engineer to work on
 110 a MESA 3D driver. This will begin life similar to SwiftShader however
 111 retaining the vectorisation and predication intrinsics as well as hardware
 112 accelerated opcodes (all of which SwiftShader lacks)
 113
 114 Medium to long-term we need HDL engineers. Particularly those familiar
 115 with nMigen or just python.  Most of the techniques being used require
 116 software engineering skills (OO design, polymorphism) than they do more
 117 traditional HDL programming skills. Basically if you have experience in 2
 118 of the following you'll do fine: python, nmigen, verilog/VHDL/gate-level
 119 design. See [[HDL_workflow]]
 120
 121 Also, individuals with experience in formal mathematical verification
 122 are quite welcome.
 123