On Jan 5, 7:40*am, mattm wrote:
[snip]

The terms of the FLARM patent are that FLARM supplies code to vendors
of FLARM hardware that implements the protocol. *The code is meant to
be imbedded in the firmware for the hardware. *Additional function
beyond
the protocol (user interface, ADS-B, etc.) is up to the individual
vendor.
When the FLARM protocol gets updated then Butterfly will make an
updated firmware available. *They can also update the firmware
independently
if needed for some other reason.

The RF changes (the new frequency for the US?) is a very minor change.
FLARM already runs on different frequencies in different parts of the
world.

-- Matt

I'm not sure what is meant by "terms of a patent" but there are a few
confusing things here.

To be clear Flarm does not provide firmware "code" to current third
party licensees it provides a single image binary firmware that runs
on all current devices that implement the Flarm protocol. The
licensees use a hardware design licensed from Flarm that provides this
binary compatibility. This is an impressive and important technical
achievement that ensures full compatibility across devices. The
PowerFLARM is a new generation device that Flarm is developing
(closely with Butterfly the hardware OEM) that can't practically do
anything else but require a new generation of firmware to support the
new features since technically the current firmware does not provide
low level things needed to say properly integrate Flarm and ADS-B
functionality. Its not just stuff anybody should want an OEM to try to
add "on the side".

BTW existing Flarm devices already support the USA frequency (and
specific frequencies for other geographies) but they are not legal/FCC
approved to use in the USA. This has been gone over here before.

Darryl