[hpsdr] Project proposal - Hermes

[Kevin Wheatley]

On 15 Apr 2009, at 14:52, Philip Covington wrote:

> On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 12:35 PM, Kevin Wheatley  
> <m0khz at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>
>>
>>
>> Following the outstanding success of Mercury and Penelope, and  
>> while investigating the verilog code for both, I had the insane  
>> idea of merging the verilog code of Mercury and Penelope into a  
>> single fpga! I played around with this idea for a while and the  
>> more I thought about it the more I liked the idea.
>> So here is the proposal, to develop a single board HPSDR based on  
>> the hardware of Mercury and Penelope and a single large fpga.
>> This board would have PC connectivity by USB. I’m planning to  
>> squeeze this all onto Euro Card sized PCB (100 x 160 mm), and if I  
>> utilize both sides I might even have room for a Pennywhistle type  
>> PA  :).
>> Basic specs so far (nothing cast in stone)
>> Fpga EP3C25Q240C (I think this is the largest without BGA pin out)
>> Mercury receive chain
>> Penelope transmit chain
>> USB2 to PC data transfer
>> Pennywhistle PA (if there’s room)
>> 10Mhz on board with ext an option
>> Alex filter switching header
>> 13.5V supply
>> I’ll post a provisional block diagram on the Wiki this week, and  
>> lastly, why the name?
>> Following the tradition of the HPSDR naming convention, I thought  
>> Hermes was appropriate as he was known for his invention and theft!
>> All comments welcome.
>> Kevin – M0KHZ
>
> While interesting, this proposal does not fit in with the rest of the
> HPSDR projects.  It does nothing to advance HPSDR because it is a
> rehashing of boards that have already been produced.  The idea behind
> HPSDR was to break the projects up into modules that could work on a
> common bus (ATLAS).  By breaking it up into modules, multiple people
> could work toward a common goal.  There is also a (project leaderless)
> proposal for an Ethernet based OZYII board now - how does that jive
> with your stand alone board proposal?
>

I agree this proposal doesn't align with the mission statement of the  
group, however I gain my best learning from doing, and each time I  
tackle a project I learn different skills (isn't this what Amateur  
radio is all about). As I state above, the idea was born from  
investigating the verilog code and postulating a different  
architecture. Hence the project proposal. OzyII has nothing to do with  
Hermes.

> The other issue is that this will necessarily require different
> firmware, software, and FPGA HDL than the individual modules it
> combines.  What about those who have invested in Atlas, OZY, Mercury,
> Penelope, etc..?   Will development be slowed or stopped for those
> people if favor of the this new board that combines all the work of
> these individual projects into one?
>
> Phil N8VB

I agree, different fpga firmware will be required, but having followed  
Kirks fantastic coarse, with very my limited skills (but growing), I  
think I've half a chance of hacking something that may work, once  
again learning by doing and having some hardware here that needs new  
firmware is a great incentive :) I'm not sure about the firmware for  
the USB interface (haven't thought this through), but as I understand  
the code, the C&C encoder / decoder is the key? I can't respond  
regarding future developments on the existing boards, but I think Kirk  
has provided one clear view - development won't slow down or stop.

I must point one that I am one who has invested in a full suite of  
HPSDR boards, and are used daily as my main rig, these will not be  
made redundant, if / when Hermes become a reality, that's the great  
benefit of mix and match with the Atlas back plane.

73's
Kevin - M0KHZ


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