[ Thanks to Anonymous for
this link. ]
“If systems-on-chip are to realize their full economic potential
in the hardware world, the proprietary licensing structure of
silicon intellectual property (IP) has to change.”
“Community source licensing (CSL) is an emerging approach that
promises to free SoC design from the effects of costly and rigid
proprietary licensing. CSL creates an open, yet structured,
environment in which users can easily examine specific IP, share
information, and begin development using the IP, without incurring
enormous upfront licensing fees.”
“The proprietary licensing model that dominates hardware design
forces engineers to choose IP almost sight unseen and then pay huge
upfront licensing fees. The approach benefits the IP vendor, but
offers no advantage for the user. Though open source licensing has
proven successful in software, it is not practical for hardware
design. Building sophisticated hardware devices, unlike creating
complex software structures, requires that many implementation
details be taken into account if the design is to succeed.”