7. Changes in Fedora for Specific Audiences
7.2. Electronic Design Automation
Fedora Electronic Lab is Fedora's high-end hardware design and simulation platform. This platform provides different hardware design flows based on the semiconductor industry's current trend. FEL maps in three methodologies {design, simulation, and verification} with open source EDA software.
The latest methodology included on FEL platform is the means for verifications and debugging for digital based designs.
The Perl modules included for F11 bring a new methodology under the Fedora umbrella. This methodology is verification together with possibilities for co-simulation based design and simulation. Fedora remains the sole Linux distribution distributing FEL methodologies for hardware design, simulation, and verification.
Updates of the existing RPM packages have improved design experience in terms of development time and debugging. While FEL understands Moore's Law is important for its userbase, these improvements allow users to design a more efficient and successful design with open source software.
These enhancements brought to the Fedora umbrella increase chances that Fedora users can complete their high-end hardware design even if scaled to 90nm and wrap up their project with final tapeout.
FEL bridges 2 different open source communities :
After 3 consecutive and successive releases, FEL/Fedora is regarded as the leader in this field by both communities due to its 3-years of experience and quality EDA solutions.
Below entails the highlights of the major development items to put the quality barrier higher than the previous releases:
Perl modules to extend vhdl and verilog support. These Perl modules together with rawhide's gtkwave improves chip testing support.
Introduction of Verilog-AMS modeling into ngspice
Improved VHDL debugging support with gcov.
Improved support for re-usable HDL packages as IP core
Improved PLI support on both iverilog and ghdl
Introduction of C-based methodologies for HDL testbenches and models.
Improved co-simulation based hardware design.
Introduction of design tools for DSP design flow
Users are using the standard Fedora Live media or the "Electronic Lab" yum
group to deploy this high-end hardware design, simulation, and verification platform. To install run the following command:
su -c "yum groupinstall 'Electronic Lab'"
7.3. What's new for amateur radio operators
Fedora 11 includes a number of applications and libraries that are of interest to amateur radio operators and electronic hobbyists. Many of these applications are included in the Fedora Electronic Lab spin. For a complete list of amateur radio applications available within Fedora see
Applications for amateur radio on the wiki.
7.3.1. Sound card applications
HamFax 0.54 is new to Fedora. HamFax is an application for sending and receiving facsimiles in amateur radio and for receiving public facsimile broadcasts like weather maps. Supported interfaces are sound cards and the SCS-PTCII from Special Communication Systems.
wxapt is a console application for decoding and saving weather images transmitted in the APT format of NOAA and METEOR satellites. wxapt is a new addition to Fedora.
7.3.2. Software Defined Radio
gnuradio has been updated to version 3.1.3. This is largely a bugfix update.
7.3.3. Circuit Design and Simulation
The gEDA suite has been updated to 20081231. This includes the packages geda-docs, geda-examples, geda-gattrib, geda-gnetlist, geda-gschem, geda-gsymcheck, geda-symbols and geda-utils. These are all bugfix releases. In addition, gerbv, pcb, and ngspice are a part of the gEDA suite, but released separately.
iverliog has been updated to 0.9.20081118. This is largely a bugfix update.
qle 0.0.10 is new to Fedora 11. qle is a graphic QSO log viewer, log editor and QSO logger. It logs (or modifies) QSOs directly in a fast and light-weight SQLite database.
xwota is intended for amateur radio operators who want to make use of the WOTA database. It can be used to find out who is on the air, the band and frequency they are operating on, and their location by country, state, county, grid, and latitude/longitude. xwota is new to Fedora 11.
thebridge is an ILink/EchoLink compatible conference bridge. This is a new feature in Fedora 11.
X-Chat plugin for sending and receiving raw morse code over IRC. New to Fedora 11.
svxlink server is a general purpose voice services system for ham radio use. Each voice service is implemented as a plugin called a module. Some examples of voice services are: Help system, Simplex repeater, EchoLink connection. The core of the system handles the radio interface and is quite flexible as well. It can act both as a simplex node and as a repeater controller. svxlink-server 0.10.1 is new to Fedora with this release. For programmers, there is also a development package, svxlink-server-devel.
qtel 0.11.1 is an Echolink client. Note that it is a client only, not a full link. If you want to create a link, install svxlink-server. If you need a conference bridge, use thebridge. qtel is new with Fedora 11.
7.3.7. Other applications
The DX cluster client xdx has been updated to 2.4.1. This is a bugfix update
xdemorse has been updated to 1.3. This is a bugfix update.
ssbd (Single-Side Band daemon) is voice keyer for hamradio use. It's written as part of Tucnak, contest log for VHF contests, but is possible to use ssbd with any other program. ssbd is new to Fedora with this release.
splat-utils has been removed from Fedora and the contents included in the splat package. It is no longer necessary to install splat-utils to use splat.