subj.

I think the project is dead!

It looks like the OpenCores people were able to pull this off as a part of KnCMiner, so at least some design work was done.

I'm actually wondering- Beyond Semiconductors created several commercial variants with OpenRISC, are they also the ones creating the reference ASIC implementation, since they have past experience doing so with the same core? I believe Beyond was also founded by the same folks as OpenCores.

What I'm not fully clear about the goals and directions of the ASIC implementation, the current status, and the people/companies that are driving it. Appreciate any information about this.

thanks,

-Joel

Is this project alive or it's now abandoned?

Seems like they took the money and sort of ran with it. The project was not economically feasible to begin with.

People interested in embedded OpenRISC to integrate microprocessors in their ASICs without paying licenses (ARM, Microblaze, etc) can do so regardless, but it is hard and expensive to come up with a microcontroller implementation that is commercially sound and competitive with other solutions. The design process is long and costly, and even if the result is technically good you may fail if the result does not find a market niche.

This said, the OpenRISC ASIC proposal has not been open at all; the team in charge decided on their own what to do with their resources and worked on an FPGA-based development board of which provided no fabrication files since... well, they're selling it. Although disingenuous (they've taken donations from the community but nearly zero feedback or any direct participation from external designers) this is perfectly understandable as they are a company after all.

However I think they should show at least a glimpse of honesty, shut down the donation page (why is it still up anyway?), close the forum thread and make an official announcement. But of course that would raise the obvious question: "hey, where did the money go?"

Without any answer, ha, ha, ha ...