Subject: RE: [linux-audio-dev] open-source like hardware
From: Pieter (pieter.palmers_AT_student.kuleuven.ac.be)
Date: Sat Jan 12 2002 - 23:34:16 EET
Max,
>hello!
>if you have enough time, i'm now studying in electrical engineering
>departament of Technion.within 1-2 semesters i will reach my VLSI project,
>thus having access to a clean room etc.it is a great idea to design linux
>friendly h/w. it is both commercial, interesting and cool.
I don't think I'm considering VLSI for the moment.
For the moment, I'm also a student in electrical engineering. I've chosen
for micro-electronics, and I too have a VLSI project coming up in a few
weeks.
I don't think VLSI is an option. First of all, designing a chip is, in my
opinion, more difficult than designing a PCB. And, as far as I know,
it's very costly. The programs used to design these things aren't on the
freeware/open-source market (yet?). That might be solved if you can use
the software your department has.
But then there is the chip production... my colleges learned me that VLSI
chips are cheap when produced in large volumes, but as you need several
chip masks (@ about 10,000$ a piece), are not that cheap for low volume...
Don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong.
Maybe a better approach would be, if you are thinking about low level stuff,
to use FPGA or so, but again, it's expensive.
>this is as of DSP stuff.
>as you probably know there's many DSPs out there in the market - even
>"SHARC" DSPs used in Pulsar or other Motorolla / SGI chips.
That's, imho, a better choice. The SHARC from Analog is indeed a good
candidate. Maybe the Blackfin brother is even better to start with, it
has a PCI interface, a USB interface and an SPI interface. in other words
all we need. It runs at 300Mhz doing 600MMAC's, performance is sufficient.
Priced at $34 @ 10k volume, even if you double or triple for small volumes,
it's cheap. (I don't have lot's of money and I'm certainly not going to
spend it
on a DSP, that I might blow up when experimenting).
The downside is that it's a 16-bit fixed point processor. For pro gear
we need better. But I'm not really sure about the 16-bit... I have only
skimmed
the product folder, and I should read the datasheet. But I have exams right
now
so I don't have the time...
>to create a PCI/USB/Firewire/SCSI device is a great project that can be
>spread among few teams in the world.
I was thinking about a USB/MIDI interface, like the Midiman USB Midisport
series.
(a lot easier)
>with all the respect - Pulsar is not so inconcieveable.
>there are many problematic points in working in such a remote way,
>and possibly without a sponsor, but things happened -
>Mr. Robert Moog did create his synths with his hands.
>anyway:
>so far i can help in logic design,C coding,simulating with matlab.
>i also think Csound should be used.
>i've never touched HDLs but i can learn.
>well, i am in i guess.
(Pieter makes a mental note: "he's in" :)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Sat Jan 12 2002 - 23:25:59 EET