Doug Sutherland wrote:
Okay this is what confuses me regarding this GPS "source code".
[...] Why you
would need the vendor's code is beyond me. They provide the
specs. The specs are all you need to write your own drivers.
[...] I am baffled
why there should EVER be a need for any kind of binary
file for a GPS. What does it do exactly? Is the device not
a serial device? Can't you just write your own serial code?
Some time ago, someone (I can not remember who it was) mentioned
that the current GPS chip of the GTA01 does some calculations in
software (means within the driver code), which is done by firmware
in other GPS chips.
So there is no NMEA output from the chip itself but from the driver
only. This intellectual property seems to be the cause for all
this legal issues.
If I remember correctly, this was the reason to switch to another
GPS chip for GTA02, because the new one does all the calculation
in firmware and therefore the driver code is trivial and open.
Regards
Karsten
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