[Discuss-gnuradio] make_format and set_format

[Dawei Shen]

Hey Guys, 

I have a question about the make_format(width, shift) and set_format methods of the usrp_standard_rx class. It appears to me "width" is the bit width of IQ samples across the USB bus, but what does "shift" mean here? What has been shifted if let's say (width, shift) = (8, 8)? Also, if I call this function with (8, 8) for a '
usrp.source_c', what would be the data formats of the outputs of the usrp source, complex 4-byte floats or complex 1-byte chars? In the first case, does this save any computation load?

Thank you very much

Dawei