The Linux Foundation has launched the CHIPS Alliance project to host and curate open source code relevant to the design of silicon devices.

CHIPS (Common Hardware for Interfaces, Processors and Systems) Alliance will be aimed at promoting a collaborative environment. It will enable accelerated creation and deployment of more efficient and flexible chip designs for use in mobile, computing, consumer electronics, and IoT applications.

Early CHIPS Alliance backers include Esperanto Technologies, Google, SiFive and Western Digital, all committed to both open source hardware and continued momentum behind the free and open RISC-V architecture.

The project will form an independent entity for companies and individuals to collaborate and contribute resources to make open source CPU chip and system-on-a-chip (SoC) design more accessible to the market, the Foundation said.

CHIPS Alliance will include a Board of Directors, a Technical Steering Committee, and community contributors to manage the project.

The Foundation initially plans to focus on establishing a curation process to give the chip community access to enterprise grade hardware.