[hpsdr] The basics

[Alex]

I've read the list archive, I've looked at the websites and the blog and I still have some problems with the focus of the different boards.
So let me put together what I've read (with my questions):

ATLAS - A power and data bus backplane.  Designed to use an off-the-shelf ATX power supply

JANUS - An ADC/DAC board to interface to a SDR-1000 with a USB interface

LIONHEART - An FPGA-based controller card for the ATLAS backplane with an FX2-based USB interface

MERCURY - An ATLAS backplane 0-30MHz direct sampling receiver with a 130MHz A/D with and FPGA-based DDC.

SASQUATCH - An I/O board for interfacing analog controls to the ATLAS backplane (knobs, lights, switches, dials, etc.)

OZYMANDIAS -  An ATLAS backplane-based ADC/DAC Card

"TBD" - An ATLAS backplane card extender and prototyping board


I ask questions for a living (requirements engineer). My (initial) questions are:

If MERCURY is also meant to be "stand-alone", why not just use LIONHEART and ATLAS with a 13.8 VDC ATX power supply and save the time/cost of developing a second version of MERCURY?

What is the difference between OZYMANDIAS and JANUS? Why does JANUS not use LIONHEART for the USB interface?
(I gather that JANUS is the old Xylo-SDR and OZYMANDIAS is the old HPSDR design)

Is the focus on getting a stand-alone system or one that is a FEP (Front-end processor) for a computer (Win or Linux)? 

Is the following the suggested configuration for an operating system?
    BACKPLANE - ATLAS
    192kHz RECEIVER / TRANSMITTER - OZYMANDIAS
    30MHz RECEIVER -  MERCURY
    CONTROLLER - LIONHEART
    I/O BOARD - SASQUATCH


Alex, N3NP