GNU Radio is a software-defined radio project implemented in Free Software. Using an ossciliscope, an analog-to-digital converter, and software that can pick out individual transmissions from the results, GNU Radio can be adapted to receive analog or digital TV, AM or FM radio, cellular traffic, 802.11a, b and g, and anything else that runs over the electromagnetic spectrum, subject to the speed of the analog-to-digital converter, the CPU, and the ability of codec authors to write decoders for different apps. Eric Blossom, the lead on GNU Radio, envisions a $65 FireWire peripheral in five or ten years that can handle every radio application you use today, all at once.
Except that under the terms of the Broadcast Flag mandate that the FCC is considering at the moment, all digital television demodulators will have to be designed to be tamper-resistant (i.e., not GPLed). If Hollywood gets its way, in other words, GNU Radio would be illegal.
Which is a damned shame, 'cause Eric just got DTV tuning and demodulation running.
(via Oblomovka)
