Subject: Re: [alsa-devel] Re: [linux-audio-dev] Re: Toward a modularizationof audio component
From: Jim Peters (jim_AT_aguazul.demon.co.uk)
Date: Sat May 05 2001 - 01:06:08 EEST
Abramo Bagnara wrote:
> Please remember that ALSA PCM API can work in both way:
> - single-thread audio engine design (using ALSA PCM API as a
> communication interface between in core components and an engine that
> gives the impulses)
Okay, you're proposing that we use ALSA calls to transfer the audio
data between LAAGA plugins, all in the same thread, right ? So, this
will make one small part of the code look standard. However, these
plugins will still have had to have been written specially for LAAGA
so that they can fit in to the LAAGA plugin environment, and be
scheduled along with other plugins, and follow special LAAGA
guidelines to make sure that they don't disrupt the low-latency
responsiveness of the thread.
So, if so much has to be different, what gain is there to transfer the
internal audio connections within the thread through the ALSA API ?
We might as well just pass it around in the nearest handy buffer, as
everything else is so specialised. I can't see the point of applying
the general solution of the ALSA API to such a specific and
well-defined case.
However, I have no problems with the idea of using the ALSA API to
allow external independent applications to connect to the server,
because these applications would not have to provide plugins, and are
not under such rigid low-latency constraints.
Does this give some kind of satisfactory technical response to your
suggestion ?
> I think that now we have enough experience (distributed on several
> brains, as we like it ;-) to design an architecture that permit all this
> and I'm sure that this would bring great benefits for consumer audio and
> *huge* benefits for professional audio.
I really hope we can pull this off and create a rock-solid and
easy-to-use low-latency plugin environment. As you say, the full
solution is distributed amongst several brains, each of us with a bit
of the answer. Praying that this may go smoothly ...
Jim
--
Jim Peters / __ | \ Aguazul
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