Register File with low power retention mode and 3 speed options
IBM VC calls for 'open' hardware

![]() ![]() | |
EE Times: Design News IBM VC calls for 'open' hardware | |
Richard Goering (04/08/2005 12:53 AM EDT) URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160502705 | |
MONTEREY, Calif. — A revolution is coming to the electronics industry, says Juan-Antonio Carballo, partner in IBM's venture capital group — and it's based on "open" hardware that will foster the kind of collaborative effort that Linux has brought to software. Carballo presented his argument before a somewhat skeptical audience at the Electronic Design Processes (EDP) workshop Thursday (April 7). But Carballo insisted that various kinds of "openness," including collaborative efforts and open-source models, will change the world of system-on-chip (SoC) venture financing. "There's a pretty important wave coming in our industry that most of us are not noticing, and it could change it completely," said Carballo, who happens to be an avid surfer. "The open-source model is quickly extending from software to hardware, and it will provide a similar swell of collaborative innovation." The word "open" has various meanings with respect to hardware and silicon intellectual property (IP), he said. At one level, it could mean the details can be viewed, but not altered. It might mean the hardware can be used for free in a design that can be sold. Or it might mean that a community of users can modify details, so long as they donate the modifications. Thus, for Carballo, the word "open" includes but is not limited to the classical definition of open source, in which source is freely available and a community of users can contribute modifications. He also noted that "open" doesn't necessarily mean free of charge. The dilemma, he said, is that companies need to minimize risk, and IP often comes from small, creative companies. There is risk in open silicon IP. An IP valuation methodology is thus going to be crucial for the open hardware effort, Carballo noted. Carballo argued that open hardware produces a better return on investment. If a company is in an open standards environment, he said, time to profit goes down. And he suggested that giving away IP or tools for free, even for a limited time, could create a "huge incentive." If everything is open and given away, asked one audience member, how will anyone make money? "That's a different talk," Carballo said. "But think about how people are making money on Linux. It's in value-added stuff. Maybe you can make money on the chip, or on services around the core." Carballo pointed to www.power.org as an example of the kind of collaboration he's talking about. Power.org claims to represent a worldwide community of developers, tool providers, and manufacturers who are collaborating on industry standards and delivering applications based on IBM's Power Architecture technology.
| |
All material on this site Copyright © 2005 CMP Media LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement | Your California Privacy Rights | Terms of Service | |

Related News
- Small footprint open source hypervisor makes highly efficient use of hardware virtualization technology in Imagination's MIPS CPUs
- As Moore's Law slows, open hardware rises
- XMOS Delivers Industry's First Open Source Hardware Solution for Networked Audio & Video over Ethernet
- Hantro Incorporates Microsoft's VC-1 Format Into New Hardware Decoder
- Doors 'open' to hardware
Breaking News
- Crypto Quantique publishes independent cetome analysis on streamlining CRA compliance with the QuarkLink security platform
- DVB-S2X Wideband LDPC/ BCH Encoder FEC IP Core Available For Licensing and Integration From Global IP Core
- Alphawave Semi Delivers Foundational AI Platform IP for Scale-Up and Scale-Out Networks
- Certus Semiconductor Joins TSMC IP Alliance Program to Enhance Custom I/O and ESD Solutions
- Ceva Neural Processing Unit IP for Edge AI Selected by Nextchip for Next-Generation ADAS Solutions
Most Popular
- BrainChip Gives the Edge to Search and Rescue Operations
- New Breakthroughs in China's RISC-V Chip Industry
- Cadence to Acquire Arm Artisan Foundation IP Business
- Analog Bits to Demonstrate IP Portfolio on TSMC 3nm and 2nm Processes at TSMC 2025 Technology Symposium
- ASML targeted in latest round of US tariffs
![]() |
E-mail This Article | ![]() |
![]() |
Printer-Friendly Page |