Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] IT++ functions

[Martin Braun]

On Mon, Mar 08, 2010 at 08:42:03AM -0800, Johnathan Corgan wrote:
> If wrapping IT++ code with GNU Radio blocks is as straightforward as
> you say, it may be worth it to create a new, optional top-level
> component in gnuradio, say "gr-itpp", that provides wrappers for some
> of the more useful bits.  This wouldn't include any IT++ code itself;
> the component would just require having IT++ already installed as a
> build/runtime dependency.  (For people not interested, it just
> wouldn't get configured for build at configure time.)
> 
> I would encourage those on the list here to discuss the idea further,
> with an aim to figuring out what the "low-hanging fruit" would be.

IT++ has some nice stuff, it's well documented and tested. Judging by
the web site, development seems to have stalled at the moment, but from
what I can tell, it seems to be at a pretty mature stage. I guess adding
wrappers would be an easy way to enhance GNU Radio.

Two things I'd like to add:

- Performance might be an issue; it doesn't seem to have been a design
  criterion. This could become a problem when doing, e.g., Turbo
  decoding when processor time is already limited by other blocks.
- I can't see a way (read: my C++ skills aren't that advanced) to create
  a generic wrapper which could take any IT++ block in a consistent
  manner. As far as I can tell, it would be necessary to create one GR
  block by hand for every IT++ function.

The last point is not a big problem in my opinion, since there's not
that much stuff in IT++ which is really interesting in GR (basically the
channel models and the FECs).
As I said, I already had a look at this and seeing there's some
interest, I'd give it a hack.

MB

-- 
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Communications Engineering Lab (CEL)

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