open hardware

But no concrete commercial initiative has so far been sparked, due to a lack of information on and publicity for the open hardware model.

Patents are by definition exclusive and therefore prevent the kind of sharing that open hardware (and open software) promotes.

Board and system designers are also beginning to find their way to open hardware development.

This is usually beyond the reach of hobbyists, do-it-yourselfers, and others who typically produce open hardware.

A set of cores and programmable logic boards is available through OpenCores for open hardware innovation.

The cost of hardware implementation is another factor that affects the spread of open hardware designs.

The cost of EDA tools also plays a role in inhibiting open hardware development and design.

EDA vendors have used open hardware designs in the past to check and demonstrate the power of their tools.

In fact, open hardware itself is still being formally defined.

In general, manufacturing industries are becoming more accessible to those producing open hardware.

The OpenIPCore organization has taken its own approach to promoting the open hardware model.

Besides all the technical advantages we have just seen, the open hardware model is beginning to adapt to the needs of the commercial world.

The organization works to form the basis for open hardware designs and to solve preliminary design problems.

But of course, the most important advance in promoting open hardware comes from the implementation of open hardware designs.

Jamil Khatib reviews the open hardware model for chip design.

Reviewing any 'open' hardware events on the HMC.

Open hardware is gaining speed.

But most of the current open hardware designs have not yet found their way to real life applications.

Current difficulties for the open hardware model

The status of open hardware designs