[TenTec] Simple Radio - No Computer Inside

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Tue, Jul 26, 2005 at 02:00:22PM -0400, Richard Lee wrote:

> I've learned over the years, however, that computer hardware (principally
> the processor and its memory) seems to become obsolete (for my purposes) in
> about 3-1/2 years. Which leads me to wonder about SDRs: even if one gets the
> most-advanced, most-powerful processor available in an SDR one purchases, is
> the expected lifetime (before obsolescence) of the processor limited to
> several years? I've tentatively concluded that it is not feasible to upgrade
> the processor in an SDR. What's the solution?

In the last 3 years or so, X86 based imbeded processors have become 
available and cheap. National Semiconductor produced a low power "super
pentium I" chip called the Geode. They sold the line to AMD two years
ago and now AMD is making a line of cheap ($30) range PIII equivalents
that use very little power. 

If you know microprocessors a PIII is a real good choice as it's clock
to perfromance ratio (how much it does on one clock cycle) is high,
while the PIV is low. It's also a good choice as X86 programers are
easy to hire even on a contract basis.

In 5 years or 10 years or probably even 20 there will be X86 processors
availble. They may look different, use different logic and interfaces,
but they will be around. If your processor dies, and is no longer
available, it would be possible to build a replacement CPU board with a
currently available processor and the microcode (firmware) would still
run.

AMD has excelent customer support for the small customer which
fits Ten-Tec.

Another choice would be one of the ARM processors. ARM is an English company
that produced a processor in the 80's. It gained popularity in a computer
that was featured in a series of programs on the BBC. I'm not sure
of the BBC's relationship with the manufacturer so I won't comment on it.

The ARM processor has been upgraded and enhanced and now you can get
one with a clock speed of about 1 gHz. They are very low power and
cheap (under $20 for the real fast ones). Many companies make them
including INTEL and  Samsung, 

ARM programers are hard to find in comparison to X86 programmers. There
are lots of them with emebeded system experience, probably far more than
X86.

I used to work for a company that spent many millions of dollars on
designing a custom CPU chip to keep an emebeded product under $100 wholesale.
I was only there six months (not involved with the custom chip project).

When I left I founded a company to build a handheld gaming device using
X86 compatible chips. I found out that I could build their device using
off the shelf parts with standard interfaces for less than $100.

I'm glad I declined the offer to buy stock in that company. They are
still around, but have yet to get their product to market. I'd hate
to have to explain to investors why they spent millions of dollars,
and still burn almost $100,000 a month on a group to design a custom
chip that is totaly unecessary.

73,

Geoff.
-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (077)-424-1667  IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 
VoN  Skype: mendelsonfamily. Looking for work as a CTO or consultant in 
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