[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] SDR

[Michael Niedermayer]

Hi all

My humble opinion(s) and plan(s) about SDR

FFmpeg as a multimedia framework should support SDR.

The only practical way to support SDR in FFmpeg ATM is through a demuxer (or equivalent)
Not everyone is happy about a SDR demuxer.

The "active" code could be in the demuxer itself or an external library.

I think the 2 important factors for external vs internal are
1. Does it support features beyond what a multimedia framework needs?
2. How many active developers work on it

If we support just audio and video (de)modulation it fits nicely in FFmpeg
maybe we should consider improving the APIs we have so we have better places
than demuxers for functionality like this, but thats a long term goal that
requires a team effort or a dedicated volunteer. Its not a bad idea at all and
I certainly am in favor for improving the APIs.

OTOH if we support things beyond audio/video, maybe wifi packets, bluetooth
and so forth then SDR should be a seperate library.

Also this choice is not a constant, we can easily start out inside libavformat
and
* if sdrdemux grows beyond what makes sense in FFmpeg split it out into an external
  libraray
* if APIs in FFmpeg evolve so that other places become possible, move it into
  libavfilter or whatever other place fits better

What i would suggest is:
* get the current code or revission of it into the git master branch as a demuxer.
* see how many people enjoy working on SDR and how far these people want to take it
* keep an open mind about the future of this code, and move it elsewhere when it
  makes sense to do so.
* ATM i think incubating this SDR stuff in FFmpeg and have it grow makes more sense
  than having it in a seperate place and a demuxer in FFmpeg depending on that.

PS: Also something like plugins would help for things like this. As one could then
maintain code like a sdr-demuxer outside the main repository. So noone who doesnt
like it needs to touch it in any way while users who want it can easily enable
it ...

Thx

-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your
own failings. Then you will forget your anger. -- Epictetus
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