[sdiy] DSP cards

[Neil Johnson]

JB,

> > In that case, just go out and buy one.  Less hassle.
>
> Yes, sure, that makes sense.
>
> But, well, we're on a DIY list, aren't we ? How could I resist the
> pleasure to handle both sides of the project, hardware & software ?

Well, I guess it depends on where you personally choose to draw the line
between making it yourself and buying ready made.  For instance, I prefer
to buy resistors rather than carve them out of sticks of carbon.  Or
prefer to use a ready-made C compiler rather than write my own.  Both
tasks I could do, but I prefer to spend my leisure time on the bits which
interest me.

> Besides, AFAIK the Elektor project features all C code necessary to
> control the PCI board... I'm not sure that using a commercial card would
> give as much control on the software side, at least as micro-level...

Perhaps the audio-biased cards are closed to external developers (but
there may be dev.kits for third-party developers...needs checking into).

The Chameleon DSP module (OK, its not PCI, but I think it is still worth
looking into) dev.kit includes all the documentation and development tools
you need.  Either check out the Sound Art website or ask Paul Maddox what
tools developers get to play with.

The DSP cards sold for signal processing, e.g. cards from TransTech-DSP,
come with _everything_ you need to port applications to their cards.
After all, that is what they are made for.  They have written the Windows
device drivers and firmware for the cards, so you can concentrate on
writing DSP algorithms and not fighting an operating system that is a pig
to write low-level code for.

Then again, if you like designing 4 or 6 layer PCBs, soldering TQFP
packages and hacking Windows device drivers, go for it.  Two options for
the PCI interface are either a big Xilinx or one of the excellent PLX PCI
interface chips (www.plxtech.com).  I've seen these in designs, and
they're very good.  The software development kits are low priced ($99)
and include everything but the compiler:

Complete PCI Host-Side Software Development Support

* Supports all PLX PCI Target and Bus Master I/O Accelerators and Rapid
Development Kits
* Includes PLXMon Windows GUI debug utility
* Includes host-side C/C++ API library object and source files with
    plug-in for Visual Basic support
* Includes Windows® 98/Me/XP/2000/NT host-side device drivers with sourc
    code
* Includes Linux Kernel 2.4 host-side device drivers with source code
* Includes VxWorks v5.4 host side device drivers with source code
  Complete Local Bus-Side Software Development Support

Supports all PLX PCI Bus Master I/O Accelerators and Rapid Development
Kits

* Includes Local-Side C/C++ API library object and source files
* Includes PLX Generic Board Support Package (BSP) with source code for
    RTOS-independent software support
* Includes VxWorks and pSOS BSPs
* Includes Linux Support Package (LSP)
* Includes Back-End Monitor and source code to enable Local Bus
    communication with PCI application via RDK RS-232 port

Complete Documentation

* PCI SDK User's Manual
* PCI SDK Programmer's Reference Manual
* PCI SDK PLXMon User's Manual

> But of course I could be wrong...

You could browse the web and find out for yourself?

Neil

--
Neil Johnson :: Computer Laboratory :: University of Cambridge ::
http://www.njohnson.co.uk          http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~nej22
----  IEE Cambridge Branch: http://www.iee-cambridge.org.uk  ----