16 Nov
2008
16 Nov
'08
1:51 p.m.
On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 11:51:12AM -0500, nescivi wrote:
He needs to make this system autorecover from any
accidental loss of external
sync, since he will not be able to watch the control panel of one computer,
let alone 16 or so. And he needs other people to be able to use and run the
system, when he takes a break, or has more important things to do.
That's correct, but only part of the picture. The system
will be used in two roles, as a permanent installation
in a museum, and as a research tool.
In the first role it has to work unattended day after day,
surviving power and network interruptions and everything
else that could go wrong. All the museum staff will see
is a 'player' like telecommand GUI on a computer at the
reception desk. The system is on its own, and not only
when I'm taking a break.
In the second role it has to be completely flexible and
reconfigurable. It should be able to resume the 'museum
mode' with a single mouse click when the researchers are
done using it. For this reason, they are not allowed to
modify any physical wiring, and all signal routing
including clock distribution must be under software
control.
In the future the system may be connected (by optical
links) to other installations in the same building and
also to a concert hall or recording studio a few km away.
This again has to be remotely controlled, and of course
may involves switching, among other things, some clock
sources.
Ciao,
--
FA
Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica
Parma, Italia
Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa.