OpenCores is an open source hardware community developing digital open source hardware through electronic design automation, with a similar ethos to the free software movement. OpenCores hopes to eliminate redundant design work and slash development costs. A number of companies have been reported as adopting OpenCores IP in chips,[1][2]or as adjuncts to EDA tools.[3][4] OpenCores is also cited from time to time in the electronics press as an example of open source in the electronics hardware community, for example,[5]
OpenCores has always been a commercially owned organization. In 2015, the core active users of OpenCores established the independent Free and Open Source Silicon Foundation (FOSSi), and registered the libreCores.org website, as the basis for all future development, independent of commercial control.
Source: OpenCores – Wikipedia