[hpsdr] backup boards?

[Chris Stratton]

--- stoskopf at tri.net wrote:
> A question I've not seen here is 'What happens if
> our tightly integrated
> system loses a chip or major component?'  There
> isn't going to be a
> readily available backup board and it would be a
> shame to have a useless
> box sitting on the bench.

I don't see any indication that there are ANY
irreplacable components anywhere in the project.

In fact, pretty much everything should be replacable,
either with another of the same, or - more importantly
- with a substitute, because all of the interfaces are
well documented and most of the pieces are modifiable.


So for example, if the ADC becomes unavailable, you
can replace it with a different one (on a new board or
a daughter card) and change the FPGA code to
accomodate any differences.  If the FPGA become
unavailable, you just port the HDL to its succesor
technology.  If that digital filter chip company goes
belly-up, the next board has a bigger FPGA (Moore's
law) and solves the problem by itself.  If USB goes
out of favor, you do an interface for the new bus.  If
PC architectures go, you port the software... etc, etc
etc, there is no lock in to any piece of the solution
at all.


 
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