Update September 29: Added additional suggested projects

Update November 7: Announced that we are accepting proposals on a rolling basis.

Following up on the success of our initial round of funding, prpl Foundation, through the prplwrt PEG, is once again offering OpenWrt/LEDE developers an opportunity to submit OpenWrt/LEDE enhancement ideas to be funded by prpl Foundation and its members.

We are accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Projects submitted will be evaluated and approved until funding runs out.

Projects

While all ideas with merit and value will be considered, some examples of projects that prpl is interested in funding include:

• Adding support for hosting Docker on OpenWrt/LEDE
• Improvements to the Boardfarm testing framework, including creating a standard server configuration for virtualizing Boardfarm tests, adding support for additional hardware or complex use-cases
• Integration in OpenWrt of a vendor-neutral data plane abstraction layer, capable to exploit platform-specific HW / SW acceleration and offload capabilities with minimum impact on applications that can take advantage of them (example. ODP – opendataplane.org)
• Integration in OpenWrt of a SW fast-path for acceleration of IPv4 /IPv6 packet routing, forwarding, tunneling and termination. (examples:  OFP – /www.openfastpath.org/; netmap – http://info.iet.unipi.it/~luigi/netmap/), relying preferably on the same data plane abstraction defined above
• IoT support (standard protocols to aid IoT device onboarding, glue code to support disparate protocol translation, and remote device mgmt support for cloud-based provisioning, command, and control)
• Application environment (including secure support for 3rd party post-loaded applications)
• Provisioning/deployment support (so that end-users can be capable of new hardware self-install without having to be an experienced OpenWrt developer)
• Auto-upgrade support (detect availability of new packages and enable end-users to automatically or manually accept updates)
• Automated testing (daily build testing of many platforms against trunk)
• Secure firmware upgrade (possibility to perform authenticity check of downloaded firmware image prior to applying the new image)
• Power saving features
• Remote management features (firmware upgrades)
• Hardware- and/or software-based packet acceleration
• Telephony support (VoIP, FXS/FXO, DECT/CAT-iq)
• End-to-end QoS/QoE (IPTV support, HN discovery, LAN optimization, improved service continuity)
• Carrier-grade access (VLANs, hybrid networking, vectoring, bonding, PHY firmware mgmt)

In addition, you can submit any idea you think has merit/value.

Funding Process

The new funding round for OpenWrt/LEDE projects will use the following process.

Submit a proposal on how to improve OpenWrt/LEDE , particularly in areas important to prpl Members

A proposal should include the following information:

• Title
• Summary description of the problem to be solved and reason why it should be solved.
  • Explain the value of the solution to downstream users and the community in general.
  • If your proposal doesn’t fit into one of the areas listed above, please explain why fixing the problem is important.
• Describe your approach to solve the problem.
  • Include important technical details so that the community can properly evaluate the proposal.
• Explain your qualifications to complete the problems
• Make sure to explain why you feel this proposal will be accepted, maintained and used by the community over the long term.
• If the solution REQUIRES inclusion into the main OpenWrt or LEDE repository, explain why you are confident that it will be accepted. If your solution needs to be in the main OpenWrt repository but probably won’t be accepted by the core OpenWrt team or LEDE committers, then work on community acceptance before you submit the proposal…
• Timeline for implementation
• Fixed-fee budget
  • A fixed-fee budget is one where you will receive a pre-determined sum for completion of the task, i.e. $x for completion of y

NOTE: there are limited project funds available. Smaller projects are more likely to be accepted than larger projects. Please consider this in your proposal.

Important considerations for your proposals

Your proposal should answer the following questions for the prpl funders who will evaluate them:

• Will implementation of the project enhance the value of the community and/or improve the OpenWrt/LEDE project, and be aligned with the goals of prplwrt industry members?
• Does the broader OpenWrt/LEDE community support the proposed solution? Or is there an important subset of the community which supports proposed solution?
• Do core OpenWrt/LEDE team members support proposed solution?
• Do prplwrt members support the proposed solution?
• Does the implementer (or company/group) have a track record of delivering?
• Is the proposed length of time for the project feasible?
• Is the level of funding appropriate for the task to be accomplished?
• Will the project be licensed under a free/open source software license? (use of an OSI or FSF-approved license is a requirement)

Proposal submission

Proposals should be submitted to the prpl Foundation on a rolling basis.. Each submitter should send their full proposal, including a fixed-fee budget, to openwrt-proposals (AT) prplfoundation.org.

Additionally, we request that each submitter outline a summary of their proposal, minus information about the budget, by emailing the prplwrt list at openwrt (AT) lists.prplfoundation.org announcing their submission. We encourage the community to provide thoughtful, courteous, and constructive feedback.

Answering questions

Prior to the prpl Technical Steering Committee (TSC) and the prpl Board of Directors deciding whether to fund a proposal, the submitter may be asked questions by prpl members and other members of the OpenWrt/LEDE community about their proposal. Answers to these questions help everyone better understand a proposal and the value of funding it.

Technical presentation and Q&A at a weekly prplwrt Meeting

In addition to answering questions, to further improve the chances of being funded, submitters are encouraged to provide a short (five minute) presentation of their proposal at one of the prplwrt weekly meetings. If the weekly call is impossible to attend, prpl will try to schedule a special review meeting.

TSC and prpl Board funding decisions

The prpl Board and TSC will decide which projects to fund and then collaboratively work with submitters to develop a contractual agreement for funding the project.

The board and TSC will use their own judgment and the opinions of the community in their funding decisions. Everyone in the OpenWrt community is encouraged to share their opinions of proposals either on the prplwrt mailing list (openwrt (AT) lists.prplfoundation.org) or privately to prpl members or the TSC. If you don’t know who to contact, please email Kathy Giori, prplwrt Chair, at kathy.giori (AT) gmail.com.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the process or making a submission, we’re here to help. Please either email the prplwrt mailing list at openwrt (AT) lists.prplfoundation.org, contact Kathy Giori, prplwrt Chair, at kathy.giori (AT) gmail.com or Eric Schultz, prpl Community Manager at eschultz (AT) prplfoundation.org, or ask here as a comment.