Open Hardware Advocates Revive SuperH Processor Architecture
TL;DR. A team of open hardware advocates is working to revive Hitachi's SuperH processor architecture, leveraging its open-source potential due to expired patents. - The SuperH instruction set, a precursor to Arm Thumb CPUs, offers performance comparable to many common system-on-chip designs. - The team's "J2" core design can be synthesized in low-cost FPGAs or manufactured in bulk. - The effort aims to provide an open-source hardware option for running Linux, especially for small, embedded systems.
- The SuperH architecture's patents are expiring, making it a candidate for open hardware revival.
- The 'J2' core, based on SuperH, can be implemented in FPGAs or manufactured.
- Advocates argue for open-source software on open hardware, including microcontrollers.
- The goal is to enable low-cost, open hardware solutions for running Linux on minimal systems.