JBOSS developer site lists several projects as upstream projects. There are more than 90 projects and it does not look like JBOSS created them(Camel,Cxf,tomcat etc....)
what does this term mean?
According JBoss page:
Upstream Projects
JBoss redefined the application server back in 2002 when it broke apart the monolithic designs of the past with its modular architecture. Since then we’ve continued to find new ways to challenge convention and redefine Enterprise Java through community-driven projects. Community projects represent the latest technologies for use in cutting-edge applications and offer best-effort, community support.
Basically the upstream projects represents the Open Source version of Enterprise products.
Eg.:
RHQ - upstream open source project of JBoss Opetation Network.
JBoss Tools - upstream open source project of Red Hat JBoss Developer Studio.
Other Enterprise projects are a combination of Open Source projects, like Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite (Drools Expert, Drools Guvnor, Drools Fusion, jBPM, OptaPlanner). And some enterprise products can include Open Source products not "created by JBoss" like Red Hat JBoss A-MQ where core messaging is provided by Apache ActiveMQ.