Why IBM Open Sourced PowerPC Architecture

IBM has open sourced the Power Architecture, the PowerPC instruction set architecture, through the Linux Foundation.

PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor developed jointly by Apple, IBM and Motorola in 1991. Not only was the power architecture adopted by major home game consoles, but 13 of the world’s top 500 supercomputer performances were shown to run using the power architecture in June.

The advantage of this open source power architecture is that it is free. As the Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes open source projects with the aim of promoting power architecture technology development and commercial activities in the future, any company can use the PowerPC architecture for commercial use for free.

On the other hand, the downside is the process until the Power Architecture is released as open source. Home console game consoles such as Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, and Microsoft Xbox 360 all use PowerPC-based architecture. It is also said that 200 of the world’s top 500 supercomputers are equipped with PowerPC processors.

However, PowerPC did not succeed with computer chips. The reason is that the license cost offered by IBM was high. The power architecture was much more expensive than rivals’ MIPS architectures or ARM architectures, but the performance was roughly comparable to the x86 processor offered by Intel. It is said that as Apple, which first participated in 2006, abandoned Power Architecture and completely transferred to Intel-based architecture, the chipset development department for PowerPC was also eliminated.

It is said that this open sourceization is like Rockefeller and Rothschild begging on the street, but the open sourceization itself can be an opportunity for PowerPC. Power Architecture is an architecture that has stepped down from the front line, but it is expected to attract attention to SoC developers as the license fee, which used to cost millions of dollars, is released free of charge for open source. If it attracts attention, PowerPC may replace RISC-V, an open source architecture. The Power Architecture product development community, the OpenPOWER Foundation, unveiled this open source, saying that the future of Power Architecture is brighter than ever, and that PowerPC development will accelerate in an open development environment. Related information can be found here .