Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Developing for different A to D's

[Eric Blossom]

On Sun, Mar 09, 2003 at 05:17:19PM +1100, Alan Gray wrote:
> Hi, another new subscriber here.
> 
> I was just wondering how many changes (if any) need to be made to the base 
> code when using an A to D converter other than the PCI-DAS4020. I'm working 
> on implementing an SDR system for my final year telecommunications 
> engineering thesis, and my university has supplied me with an ICS-645 card 
> (http://www.ics-ltd.com/product_catalog/ics_645.html) which has specs that 
> seem comparable to the PCI-DAS4020.

Looks like it should work, and their web site indicates that there is
a Linux driver available.

> So, how much difficulty can I expect to encounter in:
> a) adapting the code to work with the above card

This shouldn't be much of a problem.  You'll need to look at their
linux driver and the interface it exports.  If it's a conventional
read/write/ioctl kind of interface, you may even be able to use the
existing VrFileSource as the interface to the board after you've
configured it appropriately using what ever ioctl's they provide.

Worst case, you build a new module, say GrICS645Source, that produces
N streams of shorts as its output, depending on how many A/Ds you've
enabled.  This shouldn't be more than a few of pages of code, most of
which will be very similar to the existing VrFileSource.

> b) adapting the code to work with the Australian broadcast system (I don't 
> think this should be much for FM reception, but for HDTV I have a feeling I 
> might run into more problems)

I don't know for a fact, but would expect both narrow band and
broadcast FM to be very similar, if not identical to what we've
already implemented.  Do you have broadcast HDTV in Australia?  If so,
you'll need to check on the relevant standards.

Eric