Anthony, You totally miss the point, most manufacturers WANT a PRE-MANUFACTURED VOCODER chip. Adding the AMBE chip to a radio is relatively cheap and easy. It would be a lot cheaper if Icom started placing it on the main board instead of a daughter board.
This is the same history as PL encoders/decoders. Initially they were $100-$150 add-ons (1970 dollars), now they are on the main board. Oh, and something as simple to program as a PL decoder, AFAIK, they are still implemented in hardware, it’s too cheap, too easy, and MUCH more reliable than just about any other solution. And like Darren mentioned, radios just don’t have CPUs capable of CODECs, they tend to run more at key press speeds. Ed WA4YIH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of a cutler22 Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 10:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] Re: Codec2 development - open source vocoder Not to mention, any manufacturer who wanted to implement Codec2 *wouldn't need* a pre-manufactured vocoder chip. They'd implement the vocoder algorithm into their existing firmware on the onboard processor.... -73 de Anthony, KE7HQY ________________________________ From: a cutler22 <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 7:33:42 AM Subject: Re: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] Re: Codec2 development - open source vocoder Reduce the $$$ barrier? The D-Star chip costs about $25. No one is going to be able to manufacture an open source vocoder chip for less than that. It would be the ultimate in $$$ reduction - free! This would *not* happen in HTs, being they're hardware driven. However, for base stations and mobile/laptop setups, or even an HT/Smartphone combo it *would* be possible to drop cost to free. -73, KE7HQY
