Engineers around the world, connected via the Internet, are seeking to develop a vast library of freely available hardware designs, similar to how Linux developers and other open source programmers share intellectual property.
This open source hardware library--consisting of design elements for processors, memory controllers, peripherals, motherboards and a host of other components--would aide semiconductor start-ups and device manufacturers alike. Instead of investing millions in basic and sometimes redundant design work, companies would be able to tap the library for the know-how they need, licensing designs for chips and other technology for free.
At the same time, selecting well-designed open source hardware has the potential to speed development of computing devices, ranging from set-top boxes to network switches.
"I started investigating open source hardware when I was a student in the late '90s," Jamil Khatib, an open source hardware designer and unofficial evangelist for open source hardware group OpenCores, said in an email interview. "I was wondering why there (was) not open source hardware, like open source software, so I started publishing my designs on the Web.
"The open source (process), in general, is the result of contributions from many people around the world about specific design that is open for anyone to contribute (to) and review."
No free chip
But choosing to go the open source hardware route is not as simple as downloading and installing a copy of Linux. Companies using open source designs still need to integrate the open source elements into final device designs. This could prove to be a frustrating and costly effort, with no one available to provide direct support for an open source technology. Potential patent issues also loom.
"You see, hardware can never be really free," said Rudolf Usselmann, a chip designer and active participant in OpenCores. "However, we hope for some cheaper and better-quality hardware. Just look at the unit price of an Intel Pentium chip."
To get around the manufacturing issue, the open source community is seeking agreements with companies such as Flextronics, which provides chip manufacturing, engineering and design services.
Ultimately, the open source hardware community would like to create a library so vast that companies could use it to build devices based entirely on open source designs. But that will take some time.
