I run a small business in custom software development in Canada, and I think it has gotten to the point where I can release my own product. My question has to do with using existing singleboards/SOC's in a new product design, and the licensing problems that come along with this. To be more precise, I would like to use a CuBox in a product that I can sell to the general public. Is this possible, or should I design my own SOC for this purpose to avoid IP issues? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks beforehand.
Tell me more
×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for
entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
|
|
|
Upfront IANAL - so it would be worth asking one. It seems that solid-run is in the business of delivering a armada 500 soc packaged solution (but they have not delivered it in volume as of yet) so it is likely they "want" you to use their product to deliver a solution to your customers. Since we don't know exactly what your product is, and whether it requires all the functionality that the CuBox intends to deliver - its difficult to determine fit. Since the OS stack is open source, and there is no mention of licensing restrictions on the CuBox site, I would send a question regarding commercial use / restrictions / licensing on their site (or sales@) and see how they respond. Designing your own SOC allows you to get exactly what functionality you require for your app ... at the expense of a higher engineering cost upfront until the volume increases that the BOM (bill of materials) + internal support is cheaper than an COTs solution. That probably would be the bigger concern here vs. licensing costs - but without product understanding, its just a guess. Good luck with your effort. |
|||
|
|
