On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 7:34 AM, George Allen <[email protected]>wrote:
> > When will the 6000 series Ethernet Driver and specs be available for > developers? The key point that many seem to be missing is that, since Flex has adopted Ethernet with TCP/UDP/RTP/IP on top, there is no driver needed. Every computer made today that can connect to the Internet already has the drivers installed. It is just a matter of using the existing, standard libraries included in every standard language to communicate with the radio. Will Flex provide free info, or will there be a charge. > The first part of this is the rub. If Flex describes how they talk to the radio, then the key work is done. > > If we can get a preliminary driver and data, third party developers > (logging programs, etc.) can develop their products in parallel with Flex > Development. > Modulo what I said above, this is a key point. Being able to develop code that will extend the capability that exists improves the value of the radio. Flex can do that for the 6000 series without compromising the code that they develop, something that is not possible right now with PowerSDR. There are actually two parts to this: 1. Definition of the wire protocol (messages over the network) to allow the user to extend the capability of the radio by writing code that runs in the PC; 2. Definition of an application programming interface (API) inside the radio itself to allow users to develop plug-in modules that run on the radio's internal processor. The first one is a no-brainer. it is easy to do and the value added is substantial, with no cost to Flex at all. I would be very, very surprised if they did NOT do this. Item #2 is more subtle and makes possible some very interesting things but carries with it more chance for the programmer to hose up the radio itself and/or prevent the FCC from granting certification. Still, given that they have said that the internal processor runs a flavor of Linux, it should be possible to allow modules to be loaded but still allow the system to protect itself from anything bad that those module might attempt to do. This will be interesting to watch. -- Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL 3191 Western Dr. Cameron Park, CA 95682 [email protected] +1.767.617.1365 (Dominica) +1.916.877.5067 (USA) _______________________________________________ Flexedge mailing list [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexedge_flex-radio.biz This is the FlexRadio Systems e-mail Reflector called FlexEdge. It is used for posting topics related to SDR software development and experimentalist who are using beta versions of the software.
