[hpsdr] Call for Comments and Discussion - OzyII

[Bob Cowdery]

Murray Lang wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
> Bob Cowdery wrote:
>> "If we are going to go down the path that some are suggesting and 
>> design a Linux board with all the requisite resources, then why not 
>> add a DSP and call it Sasquatch? I think it would be a shame to 
>> invest all that energy (and money) and not go the extra step."
>>
>> HPSDR is really a mix of plug-in single function boards and 
>> separately some multi-function boards. They both have a place but I 
>> would much prefer to keep single function as then the parts are 
>> replaceable and can evolve more easily.
>
> That's what I was driving at but I didn't explain myself well. Once 
> Ozy has a TCP/IP stack, then the temptation is going to be to dump all 
> sorts of interesting goodies on top. Of course that's not a problem if 
> the additional cost is marginal and people are happy to risk wasting 
> their energies.
>
> I wasn't suggesting that Sasquatch should be folded into Ozy - I was 
> saying the opposite. It sounded to me like others were getting close 
> to this scenario.
>
> 73,
> Murray - VK6HL
>
On the one hand having a full OS environment will open up the 
possibilities and let more people play at the hardware level. On the 
other it could lead to fragmentation and as you say everyone having 
their own play-pen with different software systems requiring different 
firmware running on OzyII. I can hear the shouts of discontent now, 'if 
only it had a a bit more power or a bit more RAM I could have done such 
and such'. Although I've been advocating embedded Linux I think I am 
changing tack. If I want that, and I do, my best route is to add an SBC 
in the box, Ethernet at one end and USB at the other. If I want no more 
than to place drivers at the hardware level and make it a network node 
it can be a simple device. If I wanted more (which I don't) it could be 
a more capable board with maybe graphics capability. I think the needs 
of different people are best addressed by those people selecting the SBC 
that suits their requirements.

Back to OZYII. I fail to see the point of changing a 'potentially' 
480Mb/s interface for a 'potentially' 100Mb/s interface (as some are 
suggesting 10/100 is adequate), regardless of what other attributes the 
new interface might have. I think it is a useful addition to have a 1Gb 
capability even if only a portion of it can be utilised at present. I 
can see that potentially I would like to remote my HPSDR as my shack is 
20m from my computers. I can see two routes to that. (1) it connect via 
Ethernet on OzyII and (2) it connects via my SBC that is inside the 
HPSDR enclosure. The second of these means that I would like OzyII to 
retain a USB port as well as Ethernet.

Bob G3UKB

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