Slashdot Mirror
Linux Powers First Handheld Software Radio
An anonymous reader writes "According to this article at LinuxDevices.com, Vanu Technology is demonstrating what it claims represents the world's first handheld 'software radio' using an iPAQ PDA running Linux at a conference in Washington DC today. Vanu apparently has implemented the signal processing functions on the iPAQ's XScale processor, and their software uses POSIX APIs to make it platform independent. Software radios implement multiple radio standards and frequency bands in software, rather than hardware. A standard iPAQ expansion pack houses the radio transceiver."
This would add even more value to the already wonderful Z.
But I think transistors have been handling that whole portable radio thing just fine without Linux to help them. Sorry.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This looks really cool, but it seems that the cost will be prohibitive for people who just want to listen to the radio. As the article mentions, the ability to operate on many different formats is probably more geared towards industry uses. Oh, and of course it will save lives because emergency response teams will be able to communicate better ;)
We developed compressed audio formats to combat the mindless crap that makes it onto the radio.
Now we are using a processor with many million transistors to take the place of a single transistor radio. Anyways, this is a cool accomplishment, with or without a practical application.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
of software radio is the ability to modify the code and tromp all over someone elses legally protected frequency range. Some of the big nonos include sending on ATC (air traffic controll) frequencies and numerous other military and civil service bands.
Someone corect me if I am wrong, but couldn't the transceiver be built with hardware filters on those bands and thus sidestep the issue of broadcast interference? I know this is not as nice as having a fully programmable software radio transmitter, but otherwise I really don't see the FCC granting any kind of production licensing for these.
Anyone else have solutions to this dilemma?
-- The morphemes of your disquisition are ascertainable, but they have eschewed an ambit of transpicuous exposition.
Yeah, but does it run Li... ...oh, never mind....
Chaos, panic, disorder...my work here is done.
You really don't want to try to get AM inside a computer. It's so full of nasty EMI you'll just get a head full of static and pops and buzzes.
Unless the software solution offers significant improvements/advantages (like super fine tuning, rms, ta, like the stuff on the car audio tuners) and catching international radio stations, I just don't really see the point of having linux in something that works great as it is already (i.e., the old fashioned way)...
Music is the language of the heart, the sound of the soul. -Joe Satriani
Bah! Sheilding is very very easy. How many people here have PCI TV-Tuner cards that also recieve FM? A whole $0.05 of tin to sheild the analog parts of the system, and everything is fine.
That's the one redeeming quality of computers over every other electronic device, at least they are adequately sheilded. You will probably get more interference from your TV set than you computer.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
radios in software......instead of hardware....*scratches head*
so listening in on cop band and other unautorized channels could be a few lines of code away then...
nah too f***ing good to be true.some biatch with a herfgun come along and take it out anyway*continues daydreaming*
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
just a poor geeks dream...
I'm a little tea pot.
Isn't it just a pcmcia interface? So potentially this item could be reproduced for a laptop computer?
Funny you say that... http://www.linradio.com/
This is a software-defined-radio PCI card.
Holy cheeses, man, who the hell wants to listen to a $5 transistor radio when you can hear the same thing on $1500 worth of uber-geek gear?
thanks for a new vocab word too ;)
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
If you've read the article, it's not just an reinvention of wheel:
According to Vanu, unlike traditional hardware radios, which are limited to one specific type of communication service, "software radio" technology enables a single wireless device to implement multiple radio standards and frequency bands, thus eliminating the ened for multiple hardware radios when communication with multiple radio services is required.
Check the local hardware shop. A hardware with comparable functionalities is very expensive. I'm sure the manufacturer has targeted this specific market segment correctly.
Compare it with a home-use radio is just like comparing a professional camera with an instant-camera.
Someone else got it right. This is more like being able to configure a particular device to do any wireless standard without requiring custom RF hardware, ASICs, and DSPs to do the signal processing and modulation/demodulation for each technology it handles. All the protocols and such (if we're talking about something like a GSM/TDMA/CDMA phone) would already be handled in software anyway. It's the low layer h/w receiver, transmitter, and signal processing (i.e. radio) stuff that's expensive to design and build and fit into portable devices. It sounds like this is their reference design and probably their intention is to try and license this technology to PDA and mobile phone makers.
The current configuration of the device is said to support commercial analog FM radio services, including Family Band Radio as well as the public safety APCO 25 digital standard, with future prototypes under development that will include operational capabilities of up to 900 MHz and support for cellular and PCS standards such as TDMA and GSM.
With such a huge frequency range under its belt and the fact that it's all process via software all it needs is some voice recognition software and it could become the ultimate scanner/big brother toy. Simply put, you enter a few key words, and it scans the airways for you looking for them until it finds them and either logs it or tunes you into it. The NSA has had stuff like this for listening in on international call, but I don't know if I like the idea of my neighbour being able to selectively listen in on my calls especially with such power...
me->Hi I'd like to buy blah
staff-> will that be Visa or MasterCard
me-> Visa...
person with smart scanner->Chaching!
Yeah - it's called the FCC and includes the process of type acceptance for a manufacturer to sell or even advertise radio equipment.
Anyone can purchase a transmitter or two-way radio and begin transmitting without a license on top of legit communications.
This is an old problem with an old solution. Do a 'net search for "Riley's Hammer" ...
For an example of this in action see fcc.gov
He's full of something ...
Hey! I resemble that remark. Ham radio is still alive and kicking. Hams are just as much geeks as any other computer geek. Some of us (like me) enjoy computers and amateur radio. I have spent many thousands of dollars in ham gear and many thousands of dollars in computer gear. The only difference is not only will my ham radio gear work without the internet, but it will hold it's value far longer than any of my computer equipment. DSP radios are not new, our local group here is working on a DSP based data radio. Other groups like TAPR sell a DSP radio kit.
"I bow to no man" - Riddick
You guys are all missing the point. If you have a software radio you have something that is inherently able to adapt to the spectral environment that it currently "sees". Develop logic that deals with interference, and you've eliminated the concept of management bands and spectrum management agencies. You've essentially automated the process that these agencies seek to fufill, and you've eliminated the politics, lobbying mechanisms and the grip that the old world broadcast industry has on the raw resource that should be essentially free for everyone to use.
Some people may argue that you've taken revenue (licensing) away from central government. That is true. But my belief is that Central Government should be focussing on developing innovative smart technology rather than maintaining archaic processes. Revenue through process rather than red-tape.
Are radiowaves the electromagnetic equivalent of GNU bandwidth?
Check here and here for clue.
somewhere in texas, a village is missing it's idiot
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
Before some LLC patent leach does!
Besides which, GSM mobile phones typically use they're processing power to allow them to do fast frequency hopping, etc.
The interesting part of this is that it was built into a hand-held computer for the first time, and the practical implementation means that any new radio service is a software upgrade. Think back to the Telco's when call display came out. Instead of upgrading the phones, they had to upgrade the entire network just for a service. This is an infrastructure for radio like the Internet, where services are layered over the basic medium.
My $0.05 (AUD - we don't have pennies any more)
tkcRadio [thekompany.com] doesn't count then?
Nope.
This article is about a fully programmable communication device. Listening to the radio is just one program. Load up a different program and you have a cellphone, or a beeper, or a TV, or a wireless access point, or a CB.
Just doenload a new program off the internet and it becomes a garage door opener if you want.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.