Can software emulate hardware...?

chillimacchillimac
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Can software be written to act as an FM tuner for the iPod's OS? If so, one could sell the software with headphones that act as the antenna. Given the popularity of the iPod, a developer (hint hint) could truly clean up on writing this.



All related comments are welcome.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    1bgmnk1bgmnk Posts: 26member
    Hell if the crusoe can code morph a processor a simple fm tuner shouldn't be that hard. It would require some sort of input, which would have to be handled through the FW port, the headphone jacks aren't wired for input, unless that three prong majig on the top is in fact a remote input...



    k
  • Reply 2 of 7
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    No, you can't emulate a radio in software.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    1bgmnk1bgmnk Posts: 26member
    <a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jmitola/whatisas.htm"; target="_blank">Software Radio</a>

    <a href="http://www.sdrforum.org/sdr_primer.html"; target="_blank">Software radio</a>
  • Reply 4 of 7
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    It wouldnt be too practical to "program" analog devices together. However, digital is quite a different story...
  • Reply 5 of 7
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    Software-defined radio still requires an analog front-end and a lot of processing power, neither of which the iPod has.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    [quote]Originally posted by wmf:

    <strong>Software-defined radio still requires an analog front-end and a lot of processing power, neither of which the iPod has.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Certainly there would be a problem with getting the FM signal to the CPU, but once it's there I doubt the iPod would lack the processing power to play it. However, since you would have to add an antenna via the firewire port anyway, why not just make an FM radio that sends the audio over a firewire port. That way you could use it with regular macs/pcs as well.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    allenchristopherallenchristopher Posts: 135member
    Since one can get an AM/FM radio the size of a standard eraser for $10....
Sign In or Register to comment.