Only a few years ago, the idea of open source processors being credible for equipment as specialized and demanding as a mobile RAN or core would have seemed unrealistic for mass market commercial adoption. But the shake-up of the telco chip ecosystem by open networks such as Open RAN on one hand, and by the impact of US-Chinese tensions on the other, are putting open systems in the spotlight. This was highlighted last month when 5G-on-a-chip start-up EdgeQ announced that two former Qualcomm leaders – former CEO Paul Jacobs and former CTO Matt Grob, both more recently co-founders of XCOM – had joined its advisory board. EdgeQ is one of a group of start-ups, focused on advanced applications like 5G…