If you say it isn't fully open, then maybe specify in more detail what's not open?
The open elements are
*:
- The digital logic that processes the user’s data
- The whole data path from the interface (The CPU to the hardware cryptographic accelerators and encryption engine)
- SDK software
- Embedded firmware (planned to be open, practicalities still in discussion)
The closed aspects (the remaining parts):
- The infrastructure and technology required to produce the chip
- The standard cells, power supplies, and blocks required for security that don't exist as open source IP blocks like TRNG, PUF, flash and OTP memory
*Our SDK has been published on github and can be found here. It is provided under an Apache License.
The TROPIC01 embedded firmware, digital logic, and chip resources have not yet been published on github. That is a work in progress. Engineers, open-source developers, pen-testers, and anyone else interested in access to these components should contact Tropic Square at
support@tropicsquare.comIt's not open in the sense that I cannot independently verify that the functions actually installed on the device are what are claimed, and that there aren't hidden functions installed on it that are not.
Open source software means you can compile a binary yourself and run it - this is not possible with hardware.
If I told you my software was open source but only part of it - you would treat the entire thing as closed. To me, the words, open and closed have very little meaning with harddware chips.