Ettus Research NewsPosted by Matt Ettus (Guest) on 2010-02-05 18:30 Ettus Research LLC was founded in 2004 to produce high quality, low cost software radio systems, and bring these capabilities to everyone. In the last five and a half years this company, which started in a garage, has shipped thousands of products to users in over 67 countries. Those products have been used for everything from mapping the earth, moon and stars to tracking wildlife, from teaching signal processing to obtaining a PhD., by everyone from individual hobbyists to huge research teams, for communicating across a desk, under water, under ground, across town, and around the world. Today, as the next step in the growth of our company, we are very proud to announce that Ettus Research has been acquired by National Instruments Corporation (NI, http://www.ni.com). NI was founded in 1976 to transform the way engineers and scientists around the world design, prototype, and deploy systems for test, control, and embedded design applications. Below you will find answers to some questions you may have about this change. What does this mean for Ettus Research LLC and its products? For the most part, things will stay the same. We will continue to operate separately from, but as a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Instruments. Our web address, email, phone, and postal addresses will all stay the same. All sales will continue to be direct. The additional resources the acquisition provides us will help us to serve you better and faster. The USRP family of hardware for software radio will continue to be our main product line, and it will continue to be actively developed and improved. We have several exciting new products we are working on for release later this year. We are also working on a new "Universal Hardware Driver" or UHD, which will completely encapsulate everything needed to control all of our hardware in a single driver. This will enable software developers to use USRP hardware without having to worry about the low level details of daughterboard control, kernel drivers, or other factors. The UHD will be cross-platform, allowing use on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. What does this mean for GNU Radio? Ettus Research will continue to support and contribute to GNU Radio, and the combination of GNU Radio software and USRP hardware will remain our core focus. The additional resources that a large company like NI can provide will allow us to focus even more energy on improving the overall capabilities of the system. Two of the core GNU Radio developers, Matt Ettus and Josh Blum, are employed by Ettus Research. In the future we will also likely be providing GNU Radio drivers for additional hardware from National Instruments. What does this mean for LabVIEW? The Universal Hardware Driver will allow us to produce high-quality, officially supported LabVIEW drivers for all of our hardware. We hope to have those drivers available in the coming months. What does this mean for those using Simulink, OSSIE, OpenBTS, SCARI, or other software with their USRP hardware? Ettus Research is fully committed to enabling the use of USRP hardware with any and every software platform for SDR. The UHD will ease both the technical and the licensing hurdles which have made this somewhat difficult in the past. We will be actively seeking input from the key representatives of those communities in order to ensure that the UHD API will fulfill their needs. Will USRP hardware be sold through National Instruments? In the short term, no, all sales will continue to be directly through Ettus Research, but in the longer term we may offer some or all products through NI's worldwide sales network as well. In summary, we will continue to bring you high quality, low cost devices for software radio systems, to enable you, our users, to create exciting, groundbreaking radio communication systems. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for your time and your support.
Matt Ettus Re: Ettus Research NewsPosted by Matt Ettus (Guest) on 2010-02-05 23:17 On 02/05/2010 12:31 PM, devin kelly wrote: > I have questions about the UHD. What license will be applied to it?> Will the sources be provided or binary only? (I suspect sources, but > want to be sure) And will the UHD be taking the place of libusrp2.so? The UHD code will ALL be open source. In ADDITION to GPL it will ALSO be available under a license which allows it to be linked into non-GPL and/or closed source applications like LabVIEW and Simulink. This is commonly known as dual-licensing. We still need to work out the exact wording of this license. And yes, it would supersede libusrp2.so. > Also, more general, from the perspective of the user (me) what will> change? From the announcement it seems that not much will change for > the user. Users will not notice anything different. We are still committed to the same core values of open source and open standards we have always had. Matt Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Firas Abbas (Guest)on 2010-02-06 14:39 Hi, I want to share my 2 cents:
Dear Matt, What is important to us is to keep providing the SDR hardware at lowest possible prices and keep developing your products. Congratulation again. Best Regards, Firas Abbas Re: Ettus Research NewsPosted by Matt Ettus (Guest) on 2010-02-06 16:07 Don, If anyone out there that is actually a part of this community feels the way you do, I'd love to hear it. But you just showed up and started making accusations. I've been contributing to GNU Radio for nine years now. I'll answer your questions for the sake of everyone else, though. On 02/05/2010 01:20 PM, Don Fanning wrote: > Heh... You know I wondered the exact same thing a few weeks ago. Matt> "informed" me that the .PCB files were never released. I did find a > copy of the gEDA files used to make the schematic drawings for the USRP > from a older GNURadio mirror. So much of what I'm seeing from Matt has > been a move away from Open Source and more towards "Closed Development". This is nothing new. The .PCB files for the USRP1 and USRP2 were never released. This has been openly discussed on this mailing list in the past, and you are the first to express any real problem with it. Besides, the .PCB files are all in PADS format, and licenses to that program cost tens of thousands of dollars. As for the .sch files, we have moved our source control, our hosting, and our website, and been moving to a new build system all at the same time. We've also been trying to clean up these (sometimes very old) schematics to make them work with the current gEDA tools. Also, we've had a number of people build their own copies of our hardware, and when they don't work, try to get us to replace them by lying and saying they bought it from us. So I hope you can excuse us for not rushing to get schematic files to someone who has never paid us anything more than insults. > I love how the USRP brochure has this blurb:> > "Open Source Community > The entire USRP design is open source, including schematics, > firmware, drivers, and even the FPGA and daughterboard > designs. When combined with the open source GNU Radio > software, you get a completely open software radio system > enabling host-based signal processing on commodity platforms. > No software or licenses need to be purchased." Not a word in that is, was, or will be false. >> While to the letter of the law he did provide the above details, he > has/will not provide all the information/engineering drawings necessary > for people to roll their own boards or to import existing designs so > they can be modified to suit a person's/organization's project. I can > understand why being this is how he makes a living, but at the same time > he shouldn't be promoting the design as open source... just open > architecture-ish... > > On the other hand, the HPSDR is completely open. You are fully welcome to use an HPSDR product. You'll find that in addition to a lot of work of their own, they use a bunch of firmware and FPGA code that we wrote. Matt Re: Ettus Research NewsPosted by Don Fanning (Guest) on 2010-02-06 16:48 On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 2:01 PM, Matt Ettus <matt@ettus.com> wrote: >> Don, > > If anyone out there that is actually a part of this community feels the way > you do, I'd love to hear it. But you just showed up and started making > accusations. I've been contributing to GNU Radio for nine years now. I'll > answer your questions for the sake of everyone else, though. > > Matt, Your work is very commendable in regards to GNU Radio and you deserve your accolades as well as your new success with NI where I wish you even more success. The questions I've had for you have been purely business and nothing personal so if you feel that the questions I've asked are accusations, then please accept my humble apologies as to the intent. My goal here is to further the longevity of any open source project by making sure the knowledge and IP is there for future generations. It is all too often that a company such as Ettus LLC will change or do something that is contradictory to the open source movement thusly creating a "landlocked" community. For instance a certain radio company that advertises a piece of equipment with a "open standard" however uses proprietary vocodecs. > This is nothing new. The .PCB files for the USRP1 and USRP2 were never> released. This has been openly discussed on this mailing list in the past, > and you are the first to express any real problem with it. Besides, the .PCB > files are all in PADS format, and licenses to that program cost tens of > thousands of dollars. > First, this was in reply to someone else's question. And yes, you did inform me of the .PCB's never being released a few weeks ago. Do I have a problem with it? Yes and no. Yes, because you didn't even bother converting them to PCB or even just releasing the PADS files and letting the "teeming millions" convert them for the project. And no, because I understand it's your IP that you're giving to the community. > As for the .sch files, we have moved our source control, our hosting, and> our website, and been moving to a new build system all at the same time. > We've also been trying to clean up these (sometimes very old) schematics to > make them work with the current gEDA tools. > Again understandable. However very surprised (like others) that the hardware directory was gone. It took a little googling to find a old mirror that was still online. > Also, we've had a number of people build their own copies of our hardware,> and when they don't work, try to get us to replace them by lying and saying > they bought it from us. > That's down right douchebaggery right there and I can understand not supporting a product you didn't build. But I'm sure you have ways of identifying a board built by Ettus and a board build by someone else. > So I hope you can excuse us for not rushing to get schematic files to> someone who has never paid us anything more than insults. > Again, no insults. Just appeared you were dropping off the face of the planet with your announcement and taking the USRP with you. Again, I've iterated that it's your right to do so since you own the copyright. But if you had done that move, you would have given a good slap to the open source community. As for your new ventures, there's no telling what they will ask of you since I'm assuming they bought the rights to the USRP and whether or not it remains in open source. Anything to the future would be speculation for which I did speculate to the worse case. >> No software or licenses need to be purchased.">> > > Not a word in that is, was, or will be false. > That part was not clear in your press release as to how it will affect the USRP and future driver development. And I think it should be clarified for the general public in how this will work out to the community. Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Marcus D. Leech (Guest)on 2010-02-06 18:50 On 02/05/2010 04:59 PM, Don Fanning wrote: > Am I denying that he shouldn't be paid? No.> He has done a great bit of work and much congratulations to him for > taking his business to the "next level". > > I'm not going to get all "awestruck" about the guy. No one is worthy > of that. He may be your friend, but this is just business. Nothing > personal. > > When someone touts a product that doesn't include all the pieces, then > they should be given a chance to respond and make it right. So, near as I can tell, the "missing piece" that you're all bothered about is that the PCB design files were never released, and this, somehow, makes the product "not include all the pieces". Last time I bought an LCD TV, for example, I didn't even get printed-on-paper schematics, let alone electronic design files. Matt could have chosen to not give away *any* of the hardware design information in an e-useful format, and he'd *still* be a towering member of the Open Source community. There is no "code" that says that "if you give away any of it, you have to give away all of it". Not only is *all* the firmware, fpga designs, software (via gnu radio), available openly, but so are other "manufacturing" files like the BOMs, and schematic-capture files. Matt, as the owner of this stuff in the intellectual sense, has chosen to hold-back a rather-small piece of the pie--that's his choice, and he's been very public about that choice from the very early days--and I've been around since the very beginning so I think I'm speaking with at least some authority on the subject. I have a USRP1 with a very low serial number, and I was one of the BETA customers for the DBS_RX, and even in those days, the policy was that the PCB files were held back. Seems to me that the only people really affected by such a decision are those who want to put *zero* effort into exact-cloning his work. If the *real* reason is that you want to "integrate pieces of the design into your own product", then *everything* you need is already openly available. Implying otherwise is disingenuous in the extreme. Currently, there's a "glitch" in that websites got shuffled and Matt chose to take that opportunity to clean things up before putting all of that stuff back up. I think it really sucks that you're effectively accusing Matt of having a hidden agenda. Perhaps, I might suggest, Don, that maybe you're the one with the hidden agenda. Some peoples children.... Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Don Fanning (Guest) on 2010-02-06 19:22 Marcus D. Leech wrote: >> When someone touts a product that doesn't include all the pieces, then>> they should be given a chance to respond and make it right. >> > So, near as I can tell, the "missing piece" that you're all bothered > about is that the PCB design > files were never released, and this, somehow, makes the product "not > include all the pieces". > I'm sure there are a few other files such as a true schematic so that the PCB layout could be reconfigured to meet a different form factor. But no worries, we all know that in open source: "Some assembly is required..." > You're right. And lauds to him. But don't blame me if you chose to buy a LCD TV without schematics. Any true hacker worth their salt I'm sure could find a TV with such details. And you probably didn't get the SAMS manual with your TV... that costs extra. :)> Not only is *all* the firmware, fpga designs, software (via gnu radio), > available openly, but so are> other "manufacturing" files like the BOMs, and schematic-capture files. > > Which the USRP2 is missing.... at least with my checkout of the SVN I found... But to give him the benefit of the doubt, he did say he's cleaning it up and re-releasing the BOM's so I'll just be patient unless NI takes control of the information. > files were held back.> > Good for you to support the project at an early stage. But what happens when your project won't fit into the square form factor? What if you have this great idea but can only fit into the form factor of say a cell phone... then what? I'm not the only one with the same idea... Look at the beagleboard guys doing their USRP work. > Seems to me that the only people really affected by such a decision are> those who want to put > *zero* effort into exact-cloning his work. If the *real* reason is > that you want to "integrate pieces of > the design into your own product", then *everything* you need is > already openly available. > Implying otherwise is disingenuous in the extreme. > > Umm... plagiarism has been said to be the greatest form of flattery.. but no, having the files helps *expand* a device's potential... an example would be a USRP2 with 4 ports instead of two on one board. And if this were really true, wouldn't you think some board manufacture in asia would be flooding the market with USRP knockoffs? I think you give too much credit to being a early pioneer and having all the arrows in your back...> Currently, there's a "glitch" in that websites got shuffled and Matt > chose to take that opportunity> to clean things up before putting all of that stuff back up. I think > it really sucks that you're > effectively accusing Matt of having a hidden agenda. Perhaps, I might > suggest, Don, that maybe > you're the one with the hidden agenda. > > WTF? Doesn't anyone backup files? Or leave the old site up while they migrate the information? That's IT 101 there...> Some peoples children.... >> > I give Matt major props for developing the hardware, I really do... The rest of you are just appliance users. Re: Ettus Research NewsPosted by David Burgess (Guest) on 2010-02-06 19:32 Ettus publishes the schematics. They are sometimes out of date but not hard to figure out if you have an actual board in front of you and take a little time. What the BOM? Look at a schematic and a board and figure it out. It's not like anyone is trying to stop you. You want layout files? You think there's something wrong with Ettus withholding them? Fix the situation. The design is free in the sense that you are free to hire your own engineer to make your own layout from Ettus' free schematics. Then after you pay for that you can put your money where your mouth is and put those layout files on the web under GPL. You'd be the big hero who put Matt in his place. -- David On Feb 5, 2010, at 1:20 PM, Don Fanning wrote: >> While to the letter of the law he did provide the above details, he > has/will not provide all the information/engineering drawings > necessary for people to roll their own boards or to import existing > designs so they can be modified to suit a person's/organization's > project. I can understand why being this is how he makes a living, > but at the same time he shouldn't be promoting the design as open > source... just open architecture-ish... > David A. Burgess Kestrel Signal Processing, Inc. Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Don Fanning (Guest) on 2010-02-06 19:35 David Burgess wrote: > You want layout files? You think there's something wrong with Ettus> withholding them? Fix the situation. The design is free in the sense > that you are free to hire your own engineer to make your own layout > from Ettus' free schematics. Then after you pay for that you can put > your money where your mouth is and put those layout files on the web > under GPL. You'd be the big hero who put Matt in his place. > > -- David > Because one possesses the schematics doesn't mean one can make their own layouts. All Amateur Radios come with schematics but I don't see droves of people copying their product. Repair shops are filled with schematics of devices but yet I don't see them selling bootleg copies out the back door. That's why people buy the product. And that's why Matt deserves the props and profits he gets. But for the longevity of an open source project, some files should be released such as this. Look at the RepRap. All the pieces can be reproduced from the board level up to the bracket. And before we go personal here, let's not discuss your project and how you're working other people's efforts to your advantage. (For which I'm a supporter of...) Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Marcus D. Leech (Guest) on 2010-02-06 21:19 On 02/05/2010 08:17 PM, Don Fanning wrote: > Good for you to support the project at an early stage. But what> happens when your project won't fit into the square form factor? What > if you have this great idea but can only fit into the form factor of > say a cell phone... then what? I'm not the only one with the same > idea... Look at the beagleboard guys doing their USRP work. Then you take the schematic-capture and BOM files (which are hard to get at the moment, I'll give you). You run the auto-routing, which, in my experience, takes care of 85-95% of the task, and you have a board layout in your new "squeezed" format. In fact, the existing PCB files are nearly-useless for taking the existing layout and squeezing it into a new form factor--particularly one as dramatic as the existing square board and packing into a cellphone format. There'll be virtually 100% "rip-up and re-route". >>> I give Matt major props for developing the hardware, I really do... > The rest of you are just appliance users. > What a lovely "appliance" it is, too. But really? The *dozens* of core developers of Gnu Radio who've built an entire eco-system around USRP1/2? They're "just appliance users"? Oh yeah, right. Hardware is hard, and software is easy. Re: Ettus Research News Posted by Jason (Guest) on 2010-02-06 21:30 All, Sorry for the sh*tstorm... :-( Jason wrote:> Don Fanning wrote: >> So I guess I should be the first one to ask: >> >> How will this affect the GPL and Open Sourceness of the USRP project? >> > > More specifically, I see the pdfs of the schematics [1], but is there > location to pull the .sch and .pcb files (or proprietary format > equivalents) from? I checked the gnuradio src tree [2], no luck... > The intent behind my question was that I assumed the files were out there and I just couldn't find them. I saw this [1] a few weeks ago, and thought a more application specific SDR might be an appropriate solution. Especially since Harald raised concern with finding a GSM chip "where you can still find the parts on the market, but which still has sufficient leaked documentation that you can write an open source driver for it." My thought was to avoid the GSM chip, and implement an SDR in an FPGA. Since building an Open Source GSM phone board would be new territory for me, I thought I might be able to "stand on shoulders" and learn from existing designs. My gEDA/PCB work to date has been rudimentary at best and hasn't been concerned with RF. So, I need all the help I can get. Anyway, that's why I was asking. thx, Jason. [1] http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2010/01/07/#201... 注：Ettus Research News （原文出处，翻译整理仅供参考 !） |
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