[LAU] Open Sound Interface project beginnings

[Egor Sanin]

I'm going to go ahead and say that, while I am not capable of
contributing code or electronics design, I would love to see this kind
of thing come to fruition.  It's a wonderful concept that I think
many, including myself, would find very, very useful.  As well, I
think, from my experience with LAD and the community, we have
everything we need to realize this.

I could certainly contribute time to documentation and such.

On 10/20/11, Charles Henry <czhenry at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, list
>
> I'm interested in getting feedback for a project, namely building an
> audio interface, with the goal of creating freely available schematics
> and code required.  Hence, an Open Sound Interface.
>
> Once I've heard from all those interested, we may want to migrate the
> discussion to another development oriented list such as the
> linux-audio-dev list to work out nitty-gritty technical details.  For
> now, it's enough just to gauge interest and deal with planning issues.
>
> The concept is to create a modular and scalable system that allows
> users to create a sound interface with an arbitrary number of
> input/output channels.
> Goals of the system:
> 1.  low latency
> 2.  isolate design considerations
> 3.  abstraction of data transport types
> 4.  flexibility of adc/dac/preamp combinations
> 5.  no unnecessary features--keep it lean; niche features can be added
> in by those interested
>
> My idea for how to do it, and components/tasks to design:
>
> 1.  Modules for dac and adc with on-board identifiers  (mixed-signal design)
> 2.  A FPGA-based programmable system board with connectors for
> respective modules (high-frequency circuit design)
> 3.  FPGA code for buffers, clocks, and device discovery (VHDL/Verilog
> programming)
> 4.  Data transport modules (FPGA code plus hardware design), could be
> USB, FW, ETH, PCI, wireless, etc...
> 5.  Kernel modules for each type of transport (software design)
> 6.  Power supplies (not especially difficult, but tough to find
> off-the-shelf components to meet specs)
>
> What I'm doing:
> studying VHDL coding and preparing to test I2C/SPI dacs on a Digilent
> Basys-2 board with breadboards (maybe over a few months)
> studying high frequency electronics design
>
> This sort of problem would take a good team to do well.  There's room
> for many levels of software/hardware expertise, especially those who
> understand linux audio kernel modules (design for many parts of the
> system depend on capabilities to design for).
>
> It may be a chore, but some kind of organization and design documents
> will be needed.  All the components are inter-related: it takes a
> combination of top-down (whole system) and bottom-up (per module)
> considerations to build a complete design.
>
> Any feedback, insights, practical considerations, and reasonable
> expectations for taking a complex project like this to completion
> would be welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Chuck
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