Open Reconfigurable Computing initiative broadens access to development tools
The QuickLogic Open Reconfigurable Computing (QORC) initiative has been developed by Antmicro in collaboration with QuickLogic and Google to bring open source FPGA development tools to developers.
As part of the QORC, Quicklogic will offer access to its FPGA technology and eFPGA IP to all embedded systems developers.
This initiative reflects the trend towards open source tooling while broadening access to products and enabling both hardware and software developers with tools supported by the user community and QuickLogic.
Traditionally, programmable logic vendors offered and supported only proprietary synthesis, place and route tools and open source tools were relegated to hobbyists, academics, and independent consultants, but there has been a shift as open sourced hardware and software provides flexibility, vendor and community support, longevity, and adaptability to design flows, reports QuickLogic.
The company’s initial open source development tools, developed by Antmicro with QuickLogic and Google include support for its EOS S3 low power voice and sensor processing microcontroller with embedded FPGA and its PolarPro 3E discrete FPGA family.
The EOS S3 open source development tools include SymboFlow tools to automate and optimise the FPGA design flow, from Verilog to bitstream generation. There is also Antmicro’s Renode, an open source simulation framework for rapid prototyping, development and testing of multi-node systems. The tool allows developers to fully evaluate multiple development board applications.
Another tool is the Zephyr RTOS, an open source, vendor-neutral, compact RTOS running on the Arm CortexR-M4F for connected, resource-constrained and embedded devices in applications that require security and safety.
For the next generation of low power machine learning-capable IoT devices, there is also the small form factor, open source QuickFeather hardware development kit.
Google and Antmicro have increased the breadth of supported architectures and quality of results for the open source tools. They are now not only viable but desirable for the majority of the development community, says QuickLogic.
Brian Faith, QuickLogic’s president and CEO, said: “We believe that the wide adoption of open source tools represents a paradigm shift for the industry, and we’re proud to be at the leading edge.”
“With its open source-centered approach, Antmicro has been moving the technological frontier, building whole ecosystems of non-proprietary solutions and overcoming the limitations inherent in closed technologies,” said Michael Gielda, Antmicro’s vice president of business development. “We’ve been excited to participate in this historical first from QuickLogic, by contributing our expertise in software, hardware and tools to implement the necessary SymbiFlow, Renode and Zephyr support for their hardware platform – broadening their reach within the developer community.”
The partners have announced that support for additional QuickLogic products, including QuickAI and the eFPGA IP offering will be added over the next few months.
SymbiFlow FPGA, Renode SoC Emulation, and Zephyr RTOS support are available now for QuickLogic’s EOS S3 voice and sensor processing platform and PolarPro 3E FPGAs as well as the new QuickFeather development kit.
