--- title: Imagination and our commitment to open source description: We are releasing open-source drivers for some of our PowerVR GPUs. Read more about it in our blog post. image: https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/Blog_Asset/open_source.jpg --- [![Imagination](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/Imagination_December2019%20Theme/Images/Header%20Logo%20White.svg) ![Imagination](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/Imagination_December2019%20Theme/Images/Header%20Logo%20Black.svg)](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/) - [Products & Solutions](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/) - [GPU](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/gpu/) - [CPU](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/cpu/) - [AI](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/ai/) - [Ethernet](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/ethernet/) - [Ray Tracing](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/ray-tracing/) - [Automotive](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/automotive/) - [Consumer](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/consumer/) - [Desktop](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/desktop/) - [Mobile](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/mobile/) - 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[Benny Har-Even](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/author/benny-har-even) As you may have heard, Imagination is now delving into the world of open source and an initial merge request for an early Vulkan® driver and compiler for some of our PowerVR graphics IP has been [added to the Mesa 3D graphics library](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/merge_requests/15243). While over the years we have made contributions to the Linux kernel for embedded CPUs containing our IP, this marks the first time we have made significant contributions to the open-source community for GPUs. The Vulkan driver and compiler can be found in the [public Mesa repo](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/merge_requests/15243) and we also offer a corresponding [Linux driver](https://hubs.ly/Q015vJ4w0) and a [firmware](https://hubs.ly/Q015vFZ30) in public repos. The Linux kernel and firmware will be upstreamed later. ![Computer keyboard with glowing codes, programming concept](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Computer%20keyboard%20with%20glowing%20codes%2c%20programming%20concept.jpeg?width=1000&name=Computer%20keyboard%20with%20glowing%20codes%2c%20programming%20concept.jpeg) For this initial release, we are supporting some of our established IP and also some of our recent IP that will shortly be hitting shipping silicon. The older GPU is our [PowerVR GX6250](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/new-powervr-series6xt-gpus-go-rogue-ces-2014/) from 2014, with a Chromebook Acer R13 laptop featuring a MediaTek MT8173 SoC acting as our target development device. The other two GPUs are from our recent A-Series and B-Series: namely the [IMG AXE 1-16M](https://www.imaginationtech.com/product/img-axe-1-16m/) and [IMG BXS-4-64](https://www.imaginationtech.com/product/img-bxs-4-64-mc1/). These two GPUs will be featured in industrial and IoT devices where the products will have a long lifespan, and as such, long-term support is critical. By providing an open-source driver option, we are enabling the community to ensure long-term support, free from any corporate concerns or restraints. While we have started with the Vulkan API, for those interested in OpenGL® ES we will be providing support for this via Zink or ANGLE. With this initial push into open source, we are offering support for some old and some new IP. However, we intend this to be the start of our open-source journey and we will be looking to fill the gap with other examples of our IP in due course. Alongside this, we will also help to enable third parties to provide open-source contributions via our PowerVR architecture and register documentation. We will also release firmware binaries. We think that this is an exciting development for us and this initial release marks our long-term commitment to the open-source community. As engineers and developers, we love how open-source code enables technology to be used in ways not originally envisaged. By contributing our code to the open-source community developers know they are getting robust and tested code for their projects, based on our class-leading, power-efficient, high-performance graphics IP. [Open source](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/open-source) #### Share this post - - [mailto:?subject=https://blog.imaginationtech.com/imagination-and-our-commitment-to-open-source](mailto:?subject=https://blog.imaginationtech.com/imagination-and-our-commitment-to-open-source) ##### About the Author ![Picture of Benny Har-Even](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/benny-har-even.jpg?width=60&name=benny-har-even.jpg) [Benny Har-Even](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/author/benny-har-even) Benny Har-Even was the content manager at Imagination, where he casted an editorial eye over the company’s output—from blog posts to white papers, to web pages and video material. He has a background in technology journalism that goes back to the late 1990s and has written for many leading publications from the Sunday Times and TrustedReviews.com to Wired magazine. In his spare time, he is a contributor to Forbes online. Benny left Imagination in 2023. [More from Benny Har-Even](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/author/benny-har-even) ### Subscribe to our blog ### Introducing E-Series GPU Imagination E-Series GPU IP breaks through the barriers of throughput, memory, and power at the edge.Built for next-gen AI, E-Series delivers high performance and adaptability across mobile, automotive, desktop, and consumer markets, avoiding the rigidity of fixed-function accelerators while retaining the flexibility of GPU programmability. [Learn more](https://www.imaginationtech.com/products/e-series/) ### Read Next [![](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/building.png)](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/scaling-the-open-source-powervr-vulkan-driver-to-new-gpu-architectures) ## [Scaling the open-source PowerVR Vulkan driver to new GPU architectures](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/scaling-the-open-source-powervr-vulkan-driver-to-new-gpu-architectures) [GPU](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/gpu) [Developers](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/developers) [Open source](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/open-source) 4 min read This article summarizes the foundational work we’ve been doing to support multiple GPU... [Read more](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/scaling-the-open-source-powervr-vulkan-driver-to-new-gpu-architectures) [![](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/Take%20this%20image%20as%20reference%20Keep%20it%20largely%20the_.png)](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/powervr-the-path-to-open-source-zink-and-opengl-es-support) ## [PowerVR: The Path to Open-Source Zink and OpenGL ES Support](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/powervr-the-path-to-open-source-zink-and-opengl-es-support) [GPU](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/gpu) [Open source](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/open-source) [Software](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/software) 3 min read I am happy to be celebrating an important achievement this week: the PowerVR open-source Vulkan... [Read more](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/powervr-the-path-to-open-source-zink-and-opengl-es-support) [![](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(2).png)](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/imagination-gpus-enter-mesa-ci) ## [Imagination GPUs Enter Mesa CI](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/imagination-gpus-enter-mesa-ci) [GPU](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/gpu) [Open source](https://blog.imaginationtech.com/tag/open-source) 1 min read We have taken our first major step in automated on-device testing of our open source driver: a farm... 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