expeditionradio
Sat, 07 Jul 2007 21:21:57 -0700
As I understand it, D-Star uses the AMBE codec from Digital Voice Systems, Inc. (DVSI).
What happens when these proprietary codec ICs are obsoleted by the manufacturer, and they stop producing them in wafer fabs? The life span of many types of ICs has become rather short lately... some chips are obsoleted within 2 or 3 years of their product launch. If we install D-Star "repeaters", what will happen when the chips that are needed to manufacture D-Star transceivers are no longer available in 3 years? Will it be possible to license the code and/or economical to put the code in other chips or processors? Bonnie KQ6XA