Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] To implement WiMAX with GnuRadio or not?

Hi Alexander - I think Martin & Tom covered that GNU Radio is quite capable of being programmed for the basic receiver processing. You might need to play around a bit with your DSP blocks, but otherwise I think GNU Radio's data processing is up to the task.

On May 23, 2011, at 3:50 PM, Alexander Chemeris wrote:
> 3) Right now all our code is open-source, but we must leave an option
> for proprietary plugins. How can we make this possible?
>
> 4) Related to (3) - how can we make sure our protocol stack can be
> embedded into a closed-source application/system?

IANAL and TINAL. I think, as has been said, you'll really want to consult a lawyer to figure out how to best meet your needs.

GNU Radio is licensed solely under the GPLv3, which is written with the intent that -anything directly- using source or binary becomes part of a "greater work" and hence would also fall under this or an equivalent license (e.g., if used in a sold product). In the case of GNU Radio, that means any C++ code that links with GNU Radio's libraries, or Python script that makes use of GNU Radio's Python / SWIG files / libraries. To the best of my knowledge, because GNU Radio is not dual-licensed, neither can "greater works" derived from it. Ettus' UHD code is (will be?) an example of a dual license (GPL for the primary source, or some other license allowing you to do closed source for your needs when you pay to license the code from Ettus); Qt tries to do this dual-license as well -- I don't know how well they succeed, but they do try.

IMHO, you have 3 primary choices for keeping your code closed source:

(0) Do not use GNU Radio; use some other project that has a less restrictive license.

(1) Do not distribute a product or service that uses the code: Nobody will care how you license your code so long as you / your company does not sell or distribute your product -- e.g., if you use it just in house for testing and evaluation, then you can license it however you want. However, I doubt that this is what you're looking for: why develop such a product, but not sell or distribute it? That brings us to:

(2) Make sure your code does not -directly- rely on GNU Radio's headers, Python scripts, or compiled libraries: Use currently available GNU Radio blocks as much as you can (or, those written and released by others), and then create a pipe or socket connection to your specific code. Because your code does not rely -directly- on GNU Radio's codebase / libraries, it forms an independent work & thus you can license it as you choose. That said, this method is certainly a nuisance and, depending what blocks are available versus what you need, it might also be impractical (never impossible :).

I don't know of another way to look at this issue -- maybe someone on this list is more enlightened?

That said: Unless you feel strongly that your work truly needs to be proprietary, then why not just create a project on the CGRAN or your preferred area (e.g., github) & make your work public -- it will benefit many others in the SDR / DSP world (and, likely, beyond).

Good luck, and please do keep the list informed on your project -- it sounds quite interesting! - MLD

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