OpenCores

OpenCores is an open source hardware community developing digital open source hardware through electronic design automation, with a similar ethos to the free software movement. OpenCores hopes to eliminate redundant design work and slash development costs. A number of companies have been reported as adopting OpenCores IP in chips, or as adjuncts to EDA tools. OpenCores is also cited from time to time in the electronics press as an example of open source in the electronics hardware community.

OpenCores has always been a commercially owned organization. In 2015, the core active users of OpenCores established the independent Free and Open Source Silicon Foundation (FOSSi), and registered the libreCores.org website as the basis for all future development, independent of commercial control.

Damjan Lampret, one of the founders of OpenCores, stated on his website that it began in 1999. The first public record of the new website and its objectives was on CNET News in 2001. Through the following years it was supported by advertising and sponsorship, including by Flextronics.

In mid-2007 an appeal was put out for a new backer, and that November, Swedish design house ORSoC AB agreed to take over maintenance of the OpenCores website.

EE Times reported in late 2008 that OpenCores had passed the 20,000 subscriber mark. In October 2010 it reached 95,000 registered users and had approximately 800 projects. In July 2012 it reached 150,000 registered users.

During 2015, ORSoC AB formed a joint venture with KNCMiner AB to develop bitcoin mining machines. As this became the primary focus of the business, they were able to spend less time with the opencores.org project. In response to the growing lack of commitment, the core OpenRISC development team set up the Free and Open Source Silicon Foundation (FOSSi), and registered the libreCores.org website as the basis for all future development, independent of commercial control.

In the absence of a widely accepted open source hardware license, the components produced by the OpenCores initiative use several different software licenses. The most common is the GNU LGPL, which states that any modifications to a component must be shared with the community, while one can still use it together with proprietary components. The less restrictive 3-clause BSD license is also used in some hardware projects, while the GNU GPL is often used for software components, such as models and firmware.

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