IObundle Releases Open-Source UART16550 Core for FPGA SoC Design

LISBON, Portugal - Feb. 27, 2026 - IObundle, Lda., a company specializing in open-source FPGA System-on-Chip (SoC) components, announces the release of IOb-UART16550, a free and open-source UART16550 serial communication IP core adapted for the IOb-SoC platform.

About IOb-UART16550

IOb-UART16550 is an open-source hardware core that implements the industry-standard 16550 Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) interface, widely supported by major operating systems including Linux. Based on the well-known OpenCores UART16550 project, IObundle's adaptation integrates seamlessly with the IOb-SoC ecosystem, enabling designers to quickly add robust serial communication to their FPGA-based systems.

Key Features

• Multiple CSR interfaces: Supports IOb native, AXI-Lite, and Wishbone control and status register interfaces, offering flexibility for different SoC architectures.
• Hardware flow control: Implements dedicated hardware-based RTS/CTS signal management for reliable high-speed serial communication.
• Large FIFO buffers: Provide 256-byte transmit and receive FIFOs for efficient data handling and reduced CPU overhead.
• Linux-compatible: Fully compatible with standard Linux UART drivers, facilitating rapid software development and deployment.
• Py2HWSW integration: Leverages the Py2HWSW workflow for automated hardware and software component generation, simplifying the design process.
• FuseSoC support: Pre-built, FuseSoC-compatible releases are available, enabling straightforward integration with popular FPGA toolchains.

Applications

IOb-UART16550 is well-suited for FPGA-based SoC designs requiring serial communication, including embedded Linux systems, debug consoles, industrial control systems, and hardware prototyping platforms. It is currently used as part of the SoCLinux project, which targets running Linux on fully open-source FPGA SoCs.

Availability

IOb-UART16550 is available now as free and open-source software under the MIT license at: https://github.com/IObundle/iob-uart16550

Funding

This core is developed as part of the SoCLinux project, funded through NGI Zero Core, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet program.

About IObundle, Lda.

IObundle, Lda. is a Portuguese technology company dedicated to developing open-source hardware and software solutions for FPGA-based SoC design. IObundle's IP cores and tools are freely available on GitHub at https://github.com/IObundle.