Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Matlab interface to USRP

[Jeff Brower]

Eric-

> On Wed, Apr 09, 2008 at 10:38:23AM -0500, Jeff Brower wrote:
>> Greg-
>>
>> >> I am trying to figure out the Matlab interface to USRP. Although I
>> >> could enable the communications between Matlab and GNU Radio, I am
>> >> wondering whether it is possible to make Matlab hook to USRP directly
>> >> without GNU radio. Thank you very much!
>> >
>> > (This isn't entirely directed at you - there has been discussion of
>> > proprietary software recently, and I know from private correspondence
>> > that several others share the views below.  Thus, I thought it helpful
>> > to air them.)
>> >
>> > <rms>My impression is that the charter of the list is to advance GNU
>> > Radio as a Free software implementation of SDR, within the context of a
>> > larger effort to have enough Free software so that we don't need to use
>> > any proprietary software.</>  Although I don't see this notion on the
>> > wiki, it's the normal notion for lists associated with official GNU
>> > projects of the FSF.
>> >
>> > If you're interested in using the USRP with proprietary software like
>> > Matlab, I would suggest also asking on some Matlab user's list.  I
>> > believe that a number of the more clueful people on this list are
>> > philosophically disinclined to volunteer to help people use proprietary
>> > software.
>
>> I understand completely your viewpoint.  However, let me point out
>> that one of your key objectives should be to increase popularity of
>> GNU Radio software.  One way to do this is to encourage and support
>> GNU Radio software examples that interface with MATLAB in some way.
>
> I have no interest in supporting an interface to MATLAB, or any other
> proprietary software for that matter.  I'd be much more interested in
> working with Octave, or better yet, working up an excellent
> interface to scipy.   Just because EE's are trained in MATLAB, doesn't
> mean that it's even a reasonable tool to use.   Do you know of any
> other language the allows only a single externally visible function
> PER FILE???  Come on folks, stop drinking the kool-aid.
>
> matplotlib supports pretty much all the high-level plotting features
> found in MATLAB, and does it in Python, a language that provides a lot
> more leverage than MATLAB.  scipy's got all the linear algebra, and
> and ever expanding set of functions / toolboxes.
>
>
>> There is no denying that 1000s of developers are using MATLAB as a
>> tool to develop radio and other RF applications. I'm active on
>> MATLAB lists and forums, and besides commercial developers, I see
>> literally 10s of student questions about RF projects every
>> day. OFDM, MIMO, xxSK, you name it... Professors have assigned them
>> to do it.
>
> No offense, but I think that EE professors are part of the problem.
> Many of them have little or no real world programming experience.
> You can tell.  They think that MATLAB is a "reasonable" language.

Yes you are right, MATLAB is outdated in many ways.  I remember thinking it was 
kludgy back in 1986, when I first saw
it at a tradeshow in Dallas!  It was function-per-file then, as it still is 
now.  (If you're wondering what I was
doing there, I was in the next booth over showing Hypersignal DSP software for 
PCs.)

But there is no arguing with success, and MATLAB is highly successful.  For GNU 
Radio to succeed it should gracefully
navigate the RF community real world, and MATLAB is a key part of that.

-Jeff