Before the end of this month, engineers should be able to download VHDL description files and documentation for the OpenRISC 1000 core over the Internet at no charge.
Engineers can already download a C language compiler free.
The one catch is that the OpenRISC 1000 comes with minimal support. So if engineers can't get the core to work, or if it is not all it's claimed to be, they are largely on their own. Nonetheless, analysts say the offering, and others like it, may eventually alter the semiconductor IP landscape as radically as Linux has transformed the operating-systems market. The move has raised warning flags at IP companies. OpenRISC 1000, which is not a clone and executes its own set of instructions, is due to be available from the OpenCores Web site in a matter of days.