Sun open-sources UltraSparc T1 processor design

San Jose (CA) - Sun today delivered on the promise to open-source the processor design of its multi-core UltraSparc T1 CPU under a free GNU GPL license. The announcement follows an earlier publication of "Hypervisor" API specifications, which allow companies to port Linux, BSD and other operating systems to the UltraSparc T1 platform.

It is the first time that a company has made complex hardware design has been released under the GNU GPL and is viewed as a strategy to enhance the visibility of Sun's processors and to increase the appetite of developers to build software and hardware solutions around the platform.

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