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-soc.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 Libre-SOC, 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 difficult for customers to get their hands on the
  26 drivers and install them due to their locked down nature. Libre-SOC 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 and partners
  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 * [Raptor Engineering](https://raptorengineering.com) is providing
  60   additional assistance including access to an [[shakti/m_class/LPC]]
  61   interface (more to come)
  62 * [MarketNext](http://marketnext.org) is helping us connect to developer
  63   resources in Emerging markets, for completion of NLNet-funded tasks.
  64   See the upcoming [Hackathon](https://www.youtube.com/embed/Px6eakWja3Q"),
  65   deadline May 15th
  66 * The [[PowerPC Notebook]] Project
  67 * [RED Semiconductor](http://redsemiconductor.com) is the commercial realisation of Libre-SOC technology that respects and actively supports Libre principles in its business objectives.
  68 * [[fed4fire]] for supercomputer access for verilator simulations,
  69   with thanks to Ghent University / IMEC.
  70
  71 # Status and TODO <a name="TODO"></a>
  72
  73 | Date     | Task                                      | bug   |
  74 | -------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----- |
  75 | Oct 2020 | Integer OpenPOWER ISA v3.0 implemented    | [[!bug 383]]   |
  76 | Sep 2020 | ECP5 FPGA running basic bare metal        | [[!bug 22]]      |
  77 | TODO     | 180nm GDS-II IMEC tapeout Jun 9th         | [[!bug 199]]    |
  78 | TODO     | Complete MMU for GNU/Linux OSes           | [[!bug 51]]      |
  79 | TODO     | ISA Simulators                            | [[!bug 241]]      |
  80 | TODO     | power-gem5 Simulator                      | [[!bug 581]]      |
  81 | TODO     | binutils support for SVP64                | [[!bug 550]]      |
  82 | TODO     | gcc support for SVP64                     | [[!bug 558]]      |
  83 | TODO     | SVP64 Vectorisation                       | [[!bug 583]]     |
  84 | TODO     | In-order execution engine                 |       |
  85 | TODO     | out-of-order execution engine             | [[!bug 81]]       |
  86 | TODO     | Video Instructions and libraries          | [[!bug 137]]      |
  87 | TODO     | IEEE754 FP HDL Library                    | [[!bug 48]]      |
  88 | TODO     | Kazan 3D Vulkan Driver                    | [[!bug 54]]      |
  89 | TODO     | MESA 3D Vulkan Driver                     | [[!bug 251]]      |
  90 | TODO     | 3D instructions                           | [[!bug 252]]       |
  91 | TODO     | cryptographic and bitmanip instructions   |       |
  92 | TODO     | Crypto-router ASIC (130nm?)               | [[!bug 589]]       |
  93 | TODO     | Kestrel BMC Port                          |       |
  94 | TODO     | Debug Working Group (JTAG, DMI, FSI)      |       |
  95
  96 # How Can I Help?
  97
  98 If you would like to fund us, see [[funding]]. We currently have some
  99 funding and always appreciate more!  If you are a Corporation or an
 100 individual you can donate tax-free to NLNet, and they can in turn gift
 101 our developers.  Contact lkcl@lkcl.net for more information.
 102
 103 # How Can I Help as a Developer? <a name="help_as_developer"></a>
 104
 105 If you want to write code with us (and receive donations from NLNet
 106 for doing so), keep reading.  If you want to *learn*
 107 so that you can write code with us, see "How can I learn" section,
 108 below.  If there is anything else,
 109 just get in touch on the list, there is plenty to do.
 110
 111 1. First, join the
 112   [mailing list](http://lists.libre-soc.org/mailman/listinfo/libre-soc-dev),
 113   introduce yourself (people will happily say "hello" back") and
 114   the Freenode IRC channel
 115   [#libre-soc](https://libre-soc.org/irclog/latest.log.html).
 116   Read through
 117   [recent posts](http://lists.libre-soc.org/pipermail/libre-soc-dev/)
 118   and the [[charter]], ask questions if you have any and let everyone know,
 119   on the list that you're happy with it and agree to it.
 120 2. The next thing you should do is read through the
 121   [bugs list](http://bugs.libre-soc.org) and
 122   see if there are any bugs that pique your interest.
 123   A fascinating way to do that is to view the
 124   [dependency graph](https://bugs.libre-soc.org/showdependencygraph.cgi?id=1&display=web&rankdir=LR)
 125 3. After that, go ahead and take a look at the
 126    [git repositories](https://git.libre-soc.org).
 127 4. If you plan to do HDL work, you should familiarize yourself with our
 128   [[HDL_workflow]].  If you would like to help with the ASIC layout,
 129   see [[HDL_workflow/coriolis2]]
 130 5. We do have funding available (see [[nlnet]]) upon completion of issues -
 131   we are also working on procuring more funding which gets the project to
 132   nanometre scale tapeout.
 133 6. After all this, if you feel that Libre-SOC is a something
 134   that you would like to contribute to, add yourself to the
 135   [current_members](about_us) page, fill in some information about yourself,
 136   and join the mailing list and say hello.
 137
 138 Also note that you can edit this wiki.  You can experiment in the [[Sandbox]].
 139
 140 ## Quick peek at the code
 141
 142 Here is an example process of how to play with the soc code.  The last
 143 step you will have needed to install yosys:
 144
 145     pip3 install virtualenv requests
 146     mkdir ~/.virtualenvs && cd ~/.virtualenvs
 147     python3 -m venv libresoc
 148     source ~/.virtualenvs/libresoc/bin/activate
 149
 150     cd ~; mkdir libresoc; cd libresoc
 151     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/nmigen.git
 152     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/nmigen-soc.git
 153     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/nmutil.git
 154     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/openpower-isa.git
 155     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/c4m-jtag.git
 156     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/ieee754fpu.git
 157     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/soc.git
 158
 159     cd nmigen; python setup.py develop; cd ..
 160     cd nmigen-soc; python setup.py develop; cd ..
 161     cd c4m-jtag; python setup.py develop; cd ..
 162     cd nmutil; make develop; cd ..
 163     cd openpower-isa; make develop; cd ..
 164     cd ieee754fpu; make develop; cd ..
 165     cd soc; make gitupdate; make develop
 166
 167     python3 src/soc/decoder/power_decoder.py
 168     yosys -p "read_ilang decoder.il; show dec31"
 169
 170 The full install process may be automated using scripts found
 171 here: <https://git.libre-soc.org/?p=dev-env-setup.git;a=summary>
 172 which you can clone with:
 173
 174     git clone https://git.libre-soc.org/git/dev-env-setup.git
 175
 176 ## How can I learn?
 177
 178 The whole purpose of this project is to be a learning environment as well
 179 as an actual business.  If you want to learn how to do ASIC design, with
 180 a view to contributing or starting your own ASIC business, start here:
 181 [[3d_gpu/tutorial]]. Yes, really: do not let anyone tell you that you
 182 can't learn this stuff too.
 183
 184 Along the way, if you find any [[resources]] or links that you found
 185 particularly helpful, please add them to that page so that other people
 186 can also benefit (and you have a place to remember them, too).
 187
 188 ## Needed Skills
 189
 190 Most labor is currently being applied to developing the GPU portion of
 191 the Libre-SOC.
 192
 193 Our highest priority short-term and medium-term: we need HDL engineers.
 194 Particularly those familiar
 195 with nMigen or just python.  Most of the techniques being used require
 196 software engineering skills (OO design, polymorphism) than they do more
 197 traditional HDL programming skills. Basically if you have experience in 2
 198 of the following you'll do fine: python, nmigen, verilog/VHDL/gate-level
 199 design. See [[HDL_workflow]]
 200
 201 We also need to find a c++ engineer with compiler experience to work on
 202 a MESA 3D driver. This will begin life similar to SwiftShader however
 203 retaining the vectorisation and predication intrinsics then adding
 204 hardware accelerated opcodes (all of which SwiftShader lacks)
 205
 206 Also, individuals with experience in formal mathematical verification
 207 are quite welcome.
 208
 209 # Documentation
 210
 211  - [Source Code](/docs/)
 212  - [Architecture](3d_gpu/architecture)