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Changelog

All notable changes to GNU Radio will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning, starting with version 3.7.12.0.

Older Logs can be found in docs/RELEASE-NOTES-*.

[3.10.0.0] - 2022-01-14

It is with much excitement that we release the next step forward for GNU Radio - 3.10.0.0!

Not only does this release bring in some extremely useful new modules (gr-iio, gr-pdu, and arguably gr-soapy thought that thankfully made it also into recent 3.9 maintenance releases), but also sets a path forward for using GNU Radio in heterogeneous compute environments by providing "custom buffers" for more efficiently interacting with accelerators (GPUS, FPGAs, TPUs, etc.).

We have been fortunate this year to have extremely active backporting and consistent maintenance releases from co-maintainter Jeff Long - so many of the fixes and smaller feature (and larger ones) have already seen the light of day in the 3.9.x.x and even 3.8.x.x releases.

A special specific thanks to the contributors that made these larger features and upstreamed modules possible, but much appreciation to all that contributed through code, documentation, review, and just generally being a part of this wonderful community.

  • gr-pdu: Jacob Gilbert and the team at Sandia National Labs
  • gr-iio: Travis Collins and the team at Analog Devices as well as Adam Horden, David Winter, and Volker Shroer for bringing this in-tree and working through many of the complexities.
  • Custom Buffers Support: We have David Sorber to thank for this incredible, yet advanced, feature that came out of the DARPA SDR 4.0 program and should get a lot of traction. Check out https://wiki.gnuradio.org/index.php/Custom_Buffers for more of the gory detail. Also thanks to Seth Hitefield whose initial work in this area helped get this concept into the mainstream for GNU Radio.
  • Logging Infrastructure Overhaul: A huge thanks to Marcus Müller for fixing all of this up, replacing Log4CPP with spdlog and also for providing ongoing architectural leadership to the project

Changed

  • Moved PDU blocks from gr-blocks to gr-network and gr-pdu
    • Compatibility shim included to allow access to these blocks from gr-blocks but these are deprecated from the gr-blocks namespace and the shim is scheduled for removal in 3.11.
  • gr::blocks::pdu namespace has been reorganized in gr
    • PDU vector types are accessible in gr::types
    • PDU functions are accessible in gr::pdu
    • Common msg port names are accessible in gr::ports
  • Logging Infrastructure changed to use spdlog
    • +dependency spdlog, -dependency Log4CPP
    • New, more convenient logging methods
    • Modernized Interface
    • Removed iostream and cstdio from logging statements

Project Scope

  • C++17
    • requires MSVC 1914 (Microsoft VS 2017 15.7)
    • replace boost::filesystem with std::filesystem
  • Windows build: removed unnecessary MSVC-specific system include overrides
  • Removed unused volk_benchmark
  • Use Pre-Compiled Headers - speeds up compilation time
  • Further replacements of boost::bind with lambda functions
  • Remove more manual memory management and general c++ modernization
  • PEP8 formatting applied and enforced on all Python files
  • Centralized min dependency and compiler versions in one place for GR and modtool created OOTs
  • Update QA tests to work with OpenEmbedded cross compilations
  • Dependency versions:
    • Python 3.6.5
    • numpy 1.17.4
    • VOLK 2.4.1
    • CMake 3.16.3
    • Boost 1.69
    • Mako 1.1.0
    • PyBind11 2.4.3
    • pygccxml 2.0.0
  • Compiler options:
    • GCC 9.3.0
    • Clang 11.0.0 / Apple Clang 1100
    • MSVC 1916 (Microsoft VS 2017 15.9)
  • Replace deprecated distutils in CMake macros
  • Build targets with python dependencies conditionally on ENABLE_PYTHON

gr-blocks

  • Remove deprecated networking blocks: udp_source, udp_sink, tcp_server_sink; replaced in 3.9 with more capable blocks in gr-network
  • Document the supported operations in transcendental

gr-analog

  • fastnoise_source: Use uint64_t seed API, use size_t for vector length/indices
  • fastnoise_source: Use a simple bitmask if the random pool length is a power of 2 to determine indices, instead of %, which consumed considerable CPU
  • sig_source: Remove deprecated freq message port of signal source block; Use cmd port instead

gr-filter

  • Remove deprecated mmse_interpolator block; Replaced previously by mmse_resampler
  • Speed up filter building with moves
  • Add const to temporary tap vectors

gr-digital

  • Remove deprecated simple_{correlator,framer}
  • Remove deprecated cma, lms, kurtotic equalizers; replaced in 3.9 by linear_equalizer
  • Un-deprecate pfb_clock_sync
  • Add header payload demux example
  • Remove crc32 utility and most of packet_utils
  • Remove yml files for non-existent QAM mod/demod blocks

gr-dtv

  • Refactor ATSC blocks to have separate metadata stream rather than passing structs
  • Add energy normalization for DVB-S2X constellations

gr-network

  • Fix segfaults when TCP and UDP are restarted

gr-qtgui

  • Remove spurious volk includes
  • Fix segfaulting overflow in time_sink and waterfall
  • Support for Qwt 6.2
  • Frequency/Waterfall Sinks expand range to 32k and enums in GRC
  • Frequency/Waterfall Sinks force power of 2 for fft size

gr-uhd

  • Python bindings for RFNoC blocks

gr-utils

  • gr_modtool bind workaround for pygccxml incompatibility with spdlog

gr-video-sdl

  • Clean up the SDL sinks:
    • Remove unused format parameter

gnuradio-runtime

  • gr::random uses xoroshiro128+ internally, takes uint64_t seed
  • Remove unused misc.cc/h
  • Accelerator Device Support
    • Major changes to the runtime to support "custom buffers"
    • Single Mapped Buffer abstraction that can be inherited out of tree
  • Remove Tag Checker
  • Explicitly convert path to string to fix MSVC build
  • size_t for vmcircbuf constructor and buffer factories
  • Reconfigurable timer value for input blocked condition (scheduler detail workaround)

grc

  • grcc --output switch for hierarchical blocks
  • Clean up Bokeh server loop
  • Don't blacklist default as a flowgraph ID to prevent always starting in an error state

Testing

  • rm dependencies from disabled components in blocks/runtime tests

Misc.

  • dtools: Added run-clang-tidy-on-codebase, which does what the name suggests, then updates all bindtool hashes, and commits everything appropriately
  • gr_filter_design
    • update to support PyQt5
    • fix loading of previously saved .csv files

Added

  • New in-tree module gr-pdu
  • New in-tree module gr-iio

[3.9.5.0] - 2022-01-XX

This is an API compatible update to GNU Radio 3.9. Code written for 3.9.X versions should compile and link without modification. The ABI is not guaranteed to be compatible, so a rebuild of OOT modules may be necessary.

Changes

GRC

  • Fix: dependent variables sometimes fail to evaluate
  • Modify and cleanup bokeh server loop

gr-analog

  • Update python bindings for power squelch

gr-dtv

  • Add energy normalization for DVB-S2X constellations.

gr-filter

  • Remove pyqwt and qt4 from filter_design

gr-network

  • Fix: segfaults when TCP & UDP blocks are restarted
  • Add throttle flag to the tcp source and sink blocks

gr-qtgui

  • Enable use of Qwt 6.2

gr-uhd

  • Add Python bindings for rfnoc_{block, ddc, duc, rx/tx_radio}

modtool

  • Improvements in generated QA code

Build System

  • Better support for cross-compiling (OpenEmbedded)
  • Find log4cpp on Ubuntu systems
  • Handle optional components in find_package
  • Add version check for pygccxml

CI/QA

  • Update tests to work with OpenEmbedded

[3.9.4.0] - 2021-10-25

This is an API compatible update to GNU Radio 3.9. Code written for 3.9.X versions should compile and link without modification. The ABI is not guaranteed to be compatible, so a rebuild of OOT modules may be necessary.

Changes

Regressions Fixes

  • Remove #include <filesystem> (C++17 feature) from one file
  • Restore pyqwidget() in gr-qtgui

GRC

  • GRC now runs on Fedora 35 ... Gtk initialization checks were too strict
  • Add keyboard shortcuts for zoom
  • Account for scale factor when computing drawing area size
  • Use font size from config for block comments
  • Change type aliasing to allow interleaved short/byte to be connected to vectors of short/byte. Stricter type checking was added previously and caused some blocks to be unconnectable when using these types.
  • Required params no longer default to 0 when left empty. This caused hard-to-find errors. Older flowgraphs that have empty required fields will need to be fixed.
  • Tooltips fixed for categories and modules

gr-runtime

  • PMT uses the VOLK allocator for vectors
  • get_tags_in_window() Python wrapper calls the correct function
  • Add --pybind option to gnuradio-config-info to get PyBind11 version

gr-blocks

  • Add example for XMLRPC
  • Add a unit test for Message Strobe
  • Fix C++ support for Unpacked to Packed

gr-channels

  • RNG seeds are initialized correctly

gr-digital

  • Fix yml file for Header/Payload Demux

gr-network

  • Suppress warning in tuntap

gr-qtgui

  • Remove unusable int type in Number Sink yml
  • Use no_quotes() function in several yml files

modtool

  • Hashes can be fixed using modtool using --update-hash-only
  • Use tempfile() instead of /tmp in bindtool and modtool
  • Use static_cast instead of reinterpret_cast in templates
  • Correct broken Python general block template

Build system

  • Better check for Boost version
  • Determine the Python prefix more reliably
  • Use GR-specified compiler standard (C++14) in gr-soapy, instead of the SoapySDR standard (C++11)
  • GrPython.cmake is compatible with older cmake

Documentation

  • Man pages are in-tree
  • Repair many examples, especially in gr-digital
  • Allow UTF-8 in pydoc templates

CI

  • Execute make install during test
  • Add Ubuntu 18.04 test target

[3.9.3.0] - 2021-09-30

This is an API compatible update to GNU Radio 3.9. Code written for 3.9.X versions should compile and link without modification. The ABI is not guaranteed to be compatible, so a rebuild of OOT modules may be necessary.

Changes

General

  • Many cleanups and some C++ modernization changes
  • Replace Boost with stdc++ equivalents (ongoing effort)
  • Logging cleanup and performance improvements (ongoing effort)
  • Cleanup of many unused includes
  • Various block yaml cleanups and repairs
  • Use Soapy instead of UHD for flowgraph testing in gr-analog and gr-dtv

GRC

  • Improvements in C++ templates and code generation, more blocks are usable
  • Add specification of packages to find (via cmake) for C++ templates
  • Fix C++ hier block param template
  • Add GUI hints for widgets in C++ code generation
  • Add no_quotes() convenience function to strip quotes from strings, callable from templates
  • Allow short and byte as valid types in an enum
  • Fix desync when dragging block (block would not always track cursor)
  • Correctly evaluate interdependent variables
  • Allow error messages to be copied to clipboard
  • Update disabled blocks if they depend on others

gnuradio-runtime

  • Deprecate tag_checker class (will be removed in 3.10)
  • Detect and follow symbolic links for installation prefix in gr::prefix()
  • Add "<" operator for comparison of tags (instead of offset_compare())

gr-blocks

  • New Matrix Interleaver block
  • Throttle and Head blocks can be input-only when no output is needed, improving performance
  • Fix tag propagation in (un)pack-k-bits blocks
  • Fix namespace for nco and vco in benchmarks

gr-digital

  • New Async CRC16 block
  • Add NRZI option to Differential En/Decoder
  • Constellation performance improvements
  • Fix constellation normalization by average power
  • Remove unimplemented msg output port from Chunks to Symbols block
  • Make unpacking of bits optional in GMSK modulator so the blocks can accept unpacked bits
  • In GFSK/GMSK hier blocks, replace M&M clock recovery with newer and more capable Digital Symbol Sync block

gr-fec

  • Cleanups and code improvements

gr-fft

  • Add a "shift" paramenter to Log Power FFT, to place DC bin at center

gr-filter

  • Performance improvement in PFB Arbitrary Resampler when interpolating, especially at low rates

gr-qtgui

  • Fix display of tags on the last sample (would be dropped)
  • Python wrapping: replace pyqwidget() with qwidget() - this is not intended to be a visible fix, but is mentioned here in case it causes trouble for anyone
  • C++ generation
    • add double quotes to cpp_opts keys with colons
    • position windows correctly depending on gui_hint
    • use option attributes to generate enums
    • use the cpp enums for wintype and trigger_type

gr-uhd

  • Fix input filename in freq hopping examples
  • Make RFNoC a separately enabled component in cmake
  • Python bindings for rfnoc_graph,_rx/tx_streamer

gr-video-sdl

  • U and V channels were reversed on sink blocks

gr-soapy

  • Added message support for SoapySDR 0.8 API

modtool

  • Set VERSION_PATCH to 0 instead of "git" in new modules
  • Fix "rm", "bind", disable", "rename" and "makeyml" which had unexpected side effects, or did not work as a user would expect

Build System

  • Correct minimum version checking for Mako
  • Ensure that RC_*_VERSION are numeric (Windows)
  • Fix finding libunwind
  • Pass through extra arguments to GR_PYTHON_INSTALL to install command
  • Remove absolute paths and private links from exported targets
  • Add gir1.2-gtk-3.0 as deb runtime dependency

Documentation

  • Code of Conduct updates and link to Wiki

CI

  • Do not error out on deprecations, allowing testing of deprecated code

[3.9.2.0] - 2021-06-10

Changed

SoapySDR support (gr-soapy)

The new gr-soapy built-in module provides access to Soapy hardware drivers using the SoapySDR driver framework. See https://wiki.gnuradio.org/index.php/Soapy for more information.

If SoapySDR 0.7.2 or newer is available during GNU Radio configuration, the gr-soapy module will be enabled.

The SoapySDR framework and Soapy driver modules are not maintained by the GNU Radio project. Driver modules are dynamically discovered and linked. They may be added and updated independently from the GNU Radio release cycle.

GRC

  • Parameter expressions and/or values can be displayed in blocks on the flowgraph. Previously, only values were displayed. Look for the "Show Parameter ..." toggles under the View menu.
  • Deprecated blocks are shown in a distinct color (orange), and the optional deprecated property has been added to block yaml
  • Dark theme works better, especially for parameter fields
  • Vector length is now correctly applied to all input ports
  • Validation has been improved. Raw types are validated. Port connections are checked by type rather than by item size.
  • Variable names that cause name conflicts in Python code (e.g., with package names) are rejected
  • Bus logic fixes
  • Blocks can no longer be dragged off the screen and lost forever

gnuradio-runtime

  • Remove pmt::pmt_* functions, which were not actually implemented. This is technically an API change, but any use of the API would have resulted in a link error.
  • Remove Python bindings for internal buffer functions

gr-analog

  • Added an example for PLL Frequency Detector
  • Better names for parameters in PLL GRC blocks

gr-blocks

  • Consistent naming for Vector Length parameter in GRC blocks
  • count_bits uses VOLK popcnt for better performance (used for example in the Correlate Access Code block)
  • Rotator block phase increment parameter is controllable via a message, and a tag can be added at the point where the increment is adjusted

gr-digital

  • MPSK example updated to use a Linear Equalizer (replacing deprecated block)

gr-filter

  • Filter Delay documentation improvement
  • Interpolating FIR filter can generate C++ code

gr-dtv

  • VL-SNR bugs fixed (incorrect constants).

gr-qtgui

  • Improve autoscaling for vector sinks
  • Fix floating-point resolution problems in several widgets, due to interpretation of PMT doubles as floats

gr-uhd

  • Add policy enum to Python bindings for tune_request
  • Additional time spec options on UHD blocks (PC Clock on Next PPS, GPS Time on Next PPS)
  • Fix up code that was generating warnings
  • Fix command handler logic to apply commands from messages to the correct channel

gr_filter_design

  • "File/Save" is disabled until the taps have been computed, and the GUI is reset after a save, to make it clearer which data is being saved.
  • Entries are hidden for parameters that do not apply to the selected filter type.
  • Save window type as an integer instead of a Python enum name

gr_modtool

  • Improve validation of module and block names

Build System and Infrastructure

  • Improved messages related to dependencies MPIR and GMP. Only one of these packages is required, and the previous error messages were confusing.
  • Cleaner builds for Windows and Conda. A number of general cmake improvements have resulted from this work.
  • In-tree packaging files for DEB and RPM, used with Launchpad and COPR
  • Added man pages for GNU Radio tools
  • Test code generation for all in-tree GRC examples
  • In GrPybind.cmake, PYBIND11_INCLUDE_DIR (incorrect) was changed to pybind11_INCLUDE_DIR

Contributors

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release. Note that only authors of commits are included here. A number of people contribute in other ways, including code review, documentation and testing.

[3.9.1.0] - 2021-03-17 "Luck-O-The-Radio"

API is compatible with C++ code written against previous v3.9 releases.

ABI (link time) compatibility is not guaranteed. Out-of-tree C++ code linked to previous v3.9 releases should be rebuilt against this version.

Project Scope

  • (internal) Build system improvements and fixes
  • (internal) Use C++14 features instead of Boost where possible
  • Fewer compiler warnings (due to fixed code, not removal of warnings!)

OOT Support

  • cmake: standard FindGSL used in lieu of custom one, so OOTs should no longer copy this module from the GNU Radio tree if needed
  • modtool: better exception/error handling
  • modtool: will non-interactively add blocks with no parameters (--argument-list="")
  • PyBind11 header hash hotfixer (gr-utils/bindtool/scripts/binding-hash-hotfixer.zsh) makes life easier

GRC

  • Block param values can be shown as expressions and/or evaluated values. Under the View menu, see "Show parameter ..." options.
  • Better handling of gui hints, avoid hiding widgets in cases where some have GUI hints and some do not
  • Ensure that strings are valid utf8 when evaluating parameters
  • Save embedded python blocks/modules to hier_block_directory
  • Save config and update recent file sub-menu before executing flowgraph
  • Revert to previous "block id" display behavior
  • Fix drag n' drop issue with Quartz (macOS) backend
  • C++ generated code: remove gnuradio prefix from linked libraries
  • Python generated code: prefix generated modules with flowgraph id
  • connect() will be called for hier blocks even if they don't have ports
  • Check for PyYAML 3.11 (was checking for 3.10 even though 3.11 was required)

gnuradio-runtime

  • Default buffer size can be adjusted by setting buffer_size in the [Default] section of the GNU Radio config file. Otherwise, the longstanding default of 32768 is used.
  • Windows/Python: add DLL search path, as required by newer versions of Python

gr-audio

  • Windows: reduce priority of Windows native audio to LOW, preferring Portaudio

gr-blocks

  • Message Debug: prints warning when a non-PDU message is received on the Print PDU port
  • File Source handles EOF properly in non-seekable files (e.g., pipes)
  • Several bounds checking and boundary condition improvements
  • Remove DC Spike AutoSync algorithm fixed

gr-digital

  • MSK timing error detector improvement
  • Python bindings include control_loop parent class in child class
  • Correlation Estimator parameter threshold well documented

gr-fft

  • New window types: Nuttall, Blackman Nuttall, Nuttall CFD, Welch, Parzen, Exponential, Riemann, Gaussian and Tukey

gr-filter

  • Taps blocks (e.g., Low Pass Filter Taps) now propagate parameter changes
  • Filter Designer: IIR/Band Pass/Bessel works

gr-qtgui

  • Add toggling label and icon on plot play/stop button
  • Time Raster Sink: axis labels and ranges are configurable
  • Qt Chooser: label improvements

gr-uhd

  • DEPRECATION: UHD blocks currently accept control messages (e.g. for frequency change) as PMT pairs and tuples, in addition to the intended PMT dict format. In v3.11, only the dict format will be accepted.
  • Command note: freq messages in this version must be dicts. Additionally, the direction key must be present and set to TX or RX. Python example: pmt.to_pmt({'freq':100e6,'direction':'RX'}) The original behavior may be restored in an update, but code should be converted to use the dict format in preparation for future versions.
  • set_filter() adds chan parameter
  • Python generated code improved for FE corrections
  • Allow control of frequency and gain in both directions at the same moment
  • Add command handler for mtune ("manual tune")
  • Add GPIO control via messages
  • Add start time param to GRC blocks
  • Support streaming modes: STREAM_MODE_START_CONTINUOUS, STREAM_MODE_STOP_CONTINUOUS, STREAM_MODE_NUM_SAMPS_AND_DONE, STREAM_MODE_NUM_SAMPS_AND_MORE
  • Documentation improvements
  • Tag sink demo example
  • Better logging of over/underflows, time errors and time tags
  • Added Python binding for ALL_LOS (all local oscillators)
  • uhd_fft application X11/Qt related cleanups

QA

  • waitFor(condition, ...) available for tests that use timeouts

Contributors

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release.

[3.9.0.0] - 2020-01-17

The future is not set, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves. In this very spirit, GNU Radio 3.9 packs a whole bunch of power when it comes to transforming the way GNU Radio and its ecosytem can be developed in the future.

Not only did we have great progressions from old dependencies that proved to be all too problematic (SWIG, Python2), but also did we see an incredibly influx of people actively working on how maintainable this code base is. This will nurture the project for years to come.

All in all, the main breaking change for pure GRC users will consist in a few changed blocks – an incredible feat, considering the amount of shift under the hood. Mentioning large shifts, the work that went into the PyBind binding, the CMake modernization, the C++ cleanup, the bug-fixing and the CI infrastructure is worthy of explicit call out; I especially thank

  • Josh Morman
  • Thomas Habets
  • Jacob Gilbert
  • Andrej Rode
  • Ryan Volz

here.

For developers of OOTs, I'm sure PyBind11 will pose a surprise. If you're used to SWIG, yes, that's more code to write yourself. But in effect, it's less code that breaks, and when it breaks, it breaks in much more understandable ways. Josh has put a lot of effort into automating as much of that as possible. There's certainly no shortage of demand for that! The ecosystem (remember GNU Radio's tagline?) is in a steady upwind. We've seen more, and more stable, contributions from OOT maintainers. That's great!

For in-tree development, newer dependencies and removal of anachronisms will make sure things move much smoother. Our CI is getting – lately literally every day – better, which means we not only catch bugs earlier, but also allow for much quicker review cycles.

One central change:

If you're contributing code upstream, we no longer need you to submit a CLA; instead, we ask you to just certify, yourself, that you're allowed to contribute that code (and not, e.g. misappropriating someone else's code).

That's what the DCO (Developer Certificate of Origin) is: Just a quick, "hey, this code is actually for me to contribute under the project's license"; nothing more.

Which means that our infrastructure will refuse to let your code into the tree if you didn't add a

Signed-off-by: Maxime Example <maxime@example.com>

to your commit message. Luckily, git can do that for you: git commit -s.

Changed

Project Scope

  • We now require commits to be signed off (DCO); this means you have to attach -s to your git commit command line
  • License headers now SPDX format
  • C++14
  • use C++11 facilities in a lot of places where Boost was still used, especially smart pointers, range loops
  • lambdas where boost::bind was used
  • C11
  • Dependency versions:
    • Python 3.6.5
    • numpy 1.13.3
    • VOLK 2.4.1
    • CMake 3.10.2
    • Boost 1.65
    • Mako 1.0.7
    • PyBind11 2.4.3
  • Compiler options:
    • GCC 8.3.0
    • Clang 11.0.0 / Apple Clang 1100
    • MSVC 1910 (Microsoft VS 2017 15.0)
  • VOLK now "regular" dependency, not in-tree submodule
  • numpy now also a CMake-checked hard dependency for Python support
  • Exception Handling: throw by value, catch by reference (clang-tidy check)
  • C++11: Emplace in vectors where you can; brings performance boni, but not included in clang-tidy-checks
  • Further clang-tidy based code optimizations:
  • empty() instead of size() == 0
  • override where overriding virtual functions (which we do a lot)
  • Logging: removed all std::cerr and fprintf(stderr,…) by GNU Radio logging
  • Logging: Changed logging format for many multiline error logs
  • purged snprintf, printf logging
  • There were a lot of places where a malloc'ed object was used internally, where that was inappropriate. Using simple instance-holding fields now.
  • const for members that were only set at construction time is now desired, and implemented in most places
  • const -> constexp in a lot of places.
  • assert -> static_assert
  • An exception-throwing block will now terminate the flow graph process, configurable through top_block
  • gr-utils cleanup, folder restructuring
  • config version checks installed CMake file will accept "at least this version" now
  • PyBind11 replaces SWIG
    • Full tree conversion from SWIG to Pybind11 bindings
  • Doxygen now uses MathJax, full LaTeX installation no longer required

NOTE: Most of the changes above change the generally preferred coding style in a lot of situations.

GRC

  • start flowgraph in folder where it resides

gnuradio-runtime

  • When calculating offsets in non-integer rate FEC, lround
  • default seed for gr::random now actually as documented time-dependent
  • loggers moved from gr::block to gr::basic_block
  • PMT serialization
  • PMT dicts no longer indistinguishable from pairs
  • PMT symbol hashing no longer suffers under oddball own implementations

gr-audio

  • Increased ALSA buffer nperiods

gr-blocks

  • add, add_const VOLK'ized, templated
    • this seems to break things in other places, even if it proves to be mathematically identical
  • wavfile infrastructure: libsndfile now dependency

gr-digital

  • transcendental block: default to 32 bit float complex, not double
  • Linear equalizer: separate adaptive algorithm, allows for using e.g. trained sequences instead of the classical LMS, CMA
  • DFE: better structure for decision history

gr-dtv

  • LDPC encoder: template functions instead of #defined macros
  • LDPC encoder: smaller tables through uint16_t for index tables

gr-fec

  • API uint8_t, not char

gr-fft

  • FFT blocks/functions templatized

gr-filter

  • logging format
  • rational_resampler_base -> rational_resampler

gr-uhd

  • Required UHD version bumped to 3.9.7
  • logging format

Deprecated

gr-analog

  • sig_source: freq port will be removed in the future

gr-audio

  • audio-sink, -source: Windows audio sink/source deprecated, the portaudio sink/source works even better under windows anyway

gr-digital

  • In favor of symbol_sync, deprecate:
    • clock_recovery_mm
    • msk_timing_recovery
    • pfb_clock_sync

Added

Project Scope

  • C++ Generation all over the place
  • PyBind bindings + generator
  • Github actions
  • Reproducible builds-compatible CMake TIMESTAMP

gnuradio-runtime

  • block_gateway: set_max_output_buffer
  • GR_PREFS_PATH environment variable sensitivity to configure the path to the config file
  • gnuradio-config-info --print-all

GRC

  • option to toggle ID visibilities globally
  • Validation check for QT GUI hints
  • Python snippets

block header parsing tool

  • block header parsing tool (GSoC 2019)

gr_modtool

  • option to convert blacklisted files

gr-analog

  • sig_source: cmd port adds support for dicts, setting of frequency, amplitude, offset and phase parameters

gr-blocks

  • selector now has control message ports
  • Rotator-based freq shift convenience wrapper
  • Message-to-Variable and vice versa blocks
  • DC Spike removal
  • IQ Swap
  • Complex to interleaved char / short: scaling option
  • Delay block: control message port
  • Phase Shift block with message port
  • wavfile_sink, _source can now deal with a lot of audio formats: uncompressed WAV/AIFF, µ- and A-law compressed audio, OGG/Vorbis, FLAC, even octave files
  • Stream Demux, which demuxes streams according to lengths vector
  • rotator: phase() getter

gr-digital

  • OFDM: multiple CP lengths
  • ofdm_equalizer_simpledfe: enable_soft_output
  • Constellation Encoder
  • Constellation: normalization options

gr-fec

  • {en,de}code_rs_8, {en,de}code_rs_ccsds: Reed-Solomon en- and decoders

gr-fft

  • Windows:
    • Gaussian
    • Flat Top
    • Tukey
  • Window build() call now with default beta

gr-filter

  • GRC: File taps loader block
  • Low pass FFT filter convenience wrapper
  • ichar / ishort decimator
  • phase continuity for freq_xlating_fir_filter

gr-network

  • gr-network: a whole new networking blocks module!
    • TCP
    • UDP
  • Much better lockup/multithreading support than 3.7-era blks2 nightmare infrastructure :)

gr-qtgui

  • Azimuth/Elevation plot
  • Autocorrelation plot
  • Compass visualization
  • Dial control
  • Gauge: dial, level
  • Distance plot
  • LED-like indicator
  • Message-passing check box
  • Message-passing numeric control
  • Message-passing push button
  • Toggle Button
  • Eye sink
  • Vertical slider

gr-uhd

  • Filter API
  • UHD 4.0 support
  • Power Reference API
  • Bidirectional setting messages on both sink, source

gr-vocoder

  • Codec2 dev branch support
  • FreeDV: In/output rates can differ
  • FreeDV: text message output

gr-zeromq

  • C++ GRC templates
  • Tag filtering for tag-forwarding blocks

Removed

Project Scope

  • VOLK is no longer a submodule
  • Sphinx: consolidate into doxygen, or wiki-maintained block list.
  • Python 2
  • SWIG
  • gru python module

gnuradio-runtime

  • circular_file.cc
  • math/common_factor.hpp

gr-blocks

  • bin_statistics_f
  • log2_const

gr-digital

  • PFB clock sync: set_taps
  • deprecated old OFDM infrastructur
    • ofdm_frame_acquisition
    • ofdm_frame_sink
    • ofdm_insert_preamble
    • ofdm_sync_fixed
    • ofdm_sync_pn
    • ofdm_sync_pnac
    • ofdm_sync_ml
    • ofdm_receiver
  • digital_voice

gr-fft

  • malloc_float, _double: rely on VOLK
  • Goertzel: dtor superfluous

gr-filter

  • deprecated window function duplicates (use them from gr-fft!)

Fixed

Project Scope

  • CMake: Qwt, Log4Cpp detection
  • ctrlport strings unicodified
  • Freedesktop install script was not executed
  • Redundant icons installed
  • Path substitution on Windows was backslash-broken
  • YAML definitions: more than I can count
  • Cross-building: py interpreter at runtime != build time

gnuradio-runtime

  • ctrlport: unholy stored reference to stack-allocated object removed
  • Sine table generation for fixed point math
  • gr_unittest: floatAlmostEqual had a lot of false passes due abuse of all()
  • get_tags_in_range for delay < (end-start)
  • Premature tag pruning
  • release flattened flowgraph after stopping, fixes restartability/shutdown problem
  • PMT serialization portability
  • latency issue caused by setting block alias on msg block
  • Windows logging errors
  • ctrlport: Thrift >= 0.13 broke

GRC

  • Tab widget ID visibilities
  • A lot of YAML templates
  • Default setting in qtgui chooser restored
  • Boolean parameters no longer switch buttons
  • Nested namespace handling
  • Don't rely on set ordering in tests
  • configparser import
  • input box color theme on dark themes
  • Search box typing doesn't inadvertedly interact with the rest of GRC anymore

gr_modtool

  • Empty argument lists allowed
  • Boost UTF replaced CppUnit, this needed to be done here, too

gr-analog

  • wfm left/right, filters

gr-audio

  • portaudio: lock acquisition was improper

gr-blocks

  • Throttle now uses monotonic clock
  • Tag debug only saved last work call's tags
  • File sink flushes on stop
  • gr_read_file_metadata.py used to lose rx_time precision
  • File source big file handling under Windows
  • file_*: fseek errors used to be ignored

gr-digital

  • map_bb: thread safety, buffer overflows
  • additive_scrambler: reset was broken
  • Constellation scalefactor wasn't always initialized
  • long-standing qa_header_payload_demux bug addressed by waiting for both RX and TX, not only either
  • false triggers in correlate_access_code

gr-dtv

  • rate mismatch in ATSC flowgraphs

gr-fec

  • async_decoder Heap corruption
  • cc_encoder: constraint length K > 8 led to wrong output

gr-fft

  • thread safety of copy assignment/ctor
  • log power FFT Python

gr-filter

  • variable_band_pass_filter GRC complex taps input
  • RRC filter gain for alpha = 1

gr-qtgui

  • Remove copies of image data in returns by using move semantics
  • Remove bogus overriding in drawing functions of plot_raster, _waterfall
  • Edit MSG box: don't require key to be set
  • Don't check for Python2 libs
  • Number Sink ignored averaging setting

gr-uhd

  • UHD apps: Py3 fixes
  • USRP blocks: multichannel objects not properly populating channels

gr-video-sdl

  • YUV formats fixed

gr-zeromq

  • Don't depend on deprecated ZMQ functionality (fix warnings, include what you use)
  • Unhandled exceptions now handled, much calmer
  • Avoid infinite blocking in tb.stop() by using ZMQ_LINGER

gr-uhd

  • Change of log method, and increase message verbosity

Added

gr-uhd

  • Added gr::prefs-configurable logging interval for underflow, overflow and command time error ([uhd] section, logging_interval_ms key, milliseconds integer)

[3.8.5.0] - 2022-01-XX

This is an API compatible update to GNU Radio 3.8. Code written for 3.8.X versions should compile and link without modification. The ABI is not guaranteed to be compatible, so a rebuild of OOT modules may be necessary.

GRC

  • GRC now runs on Fedora 35 ... Gtk initialization checks were too strict
  • Fix: dependent variables sometimes fail to evaluate
  • Change type aliasing to allow interleaved short/byte to be connected to vectors of short/byte. Stricter type checking was added previously and caused some blocks to be unconnectable when using these types.
  • Account for scale factor when computing drawing area size
  • Tooltips fixed for categories and modules

gr-digital

  • Fix yml file for Header/Payload Demux

gr-dtv

  • Add energy normalization for DVB-S2X constellations.

gr-filter

  • Remove pyqwt and qt4 from filter_design

gr-qtgui

  • Enable use of Qwt 6.2
  • Remove unusable int type in Number Sink yml
  • RangeWidget - implement Eng & EngSlider

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release.

[3.8.4.0] - 2021-09-30

API is compatible with C++ code written against previous v3.8 releases.

ABI (link time) compatibility is not guaranteed. Out-of-tree C++ code linked to previous v3.8 releases should be rebuilt against this version.

Changed

GRC

  • Fix drag and drop issue with Quartz
  • Fix desync when dragging block
  • Update disabled blocks if they depend on others
  • Allow short and byte as valid types in an enum
  • Fix evaluation of interdependent variables

modtool

  • Set VERSION_PATH to 0 in new modules, instead of using GIT rev
  • For Python3, return correct exeption ModuleNotFoundError instead of ImportError

gr-blocks

  • New Matrix Interleaver block

gr-channels

  • Fix "hide" expressions in yml files

gr-digital

  • Remove unused msg output port from Chunks To Symbols block yml

gr-fft

  • Add "shift" parameter to Log Power FFT

gr-qtgui

  • Fix: tags on the last sample were not shown

gr-video-sdl

  • Fix: U and V channels were reversed on sink blocks

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release.

[3.8.3.1] - 2021-06-10

This is a PATCH level revision. The API is compatible with C++ code written for previous v3.8 releases. ABI (shared library signature) is intended to be compatible, so code linked against v3.8.3.0 should not require recompilation.

Changed

Build system

  • Improved messages related to dependencies MPIR and GMP. Only one of these packages is required, and the previous error messages were confusing.

GRC

  • Parameter expressions and/or values can be displayed in blocks on the flowgraph. Previously, only values were displayed. Look for the "Show Parameter ..." toggles under the View menu.
  • Vector length is now correctly applied to all input ports.
  • Validation has been improved. Raw types are validated. Port connections are checked by type rather than by item size.
  • Variable names that cause conflicts in Python code (e.g., package names) are rejected.
  • Bus logic fixes.
  • Blocks can no longer be dragged off the screen and lost forever.

gr-dtv

  • VL-SNR bugs fixed (incorrect constants).

gr-qtgui

  • Improve autoscaling for vector sinks.

gr_filter_design

  • "File/Save" is disabled until the taps have been computed, and the GUI is reset after a save, to make it clearer which data is being saved.
  • Entries are hidden for parameters that do not apply to the selected filter type.

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release.

[3.8.3.0] - 2021-03-17

API is compatible with C++ code written against previous v3.8 releases.

ABI (link time) compatibility is not guaranteed. Out-of-tree C++ code linked to previous v3.8 releases should be rebuilt against this version.

Changed

Project Scope

  • Preference file path may be set using the GR_PREFS_PATH environment variable
  • Lower message latency, previously slow when block aliases were used
  • PMT: is_dict() no longer returns True for PMT pairs, only for PMT dicts
  • Util gnuradio-config-info gets --print-all for those that want it all
  • Allow Thrift versions up thorugh 0.13
  • (internal) Build system improvements and fixes
  • (internal) Reduce Boost usage by replacing bind() with lambdas supported in C++11

OOT Support

  • Allow override of gr python dir by setting -DGR_PYTHON_DIR
  • Modtool will not try to add duplicate block names in a module
  • Modtool can non-interactively add blocks with no parameters (--argument-list="")
  • Modtool will use current installation prefix instead of /usr/local as source of templates

GRC

  • Better handling of gui hints, avoid hiding widgets in cases where some have GUI hints and some do not
  • Dark theme detection fix
  • Add window size option for bokeh gui

gr-audio

  • ALSA nperiods default increased to 32 frames to reduce drops (can be set in conf file under the audio_alsa section)

gr-blocks

  • File Source handles EOF properly in non-seekable files (e.g., pipes)
  • File Source handles large files on Windows
  • Several bounds checking and boundary condition improvements

gr-digital

  • MSK timing error detector improvement
  • Improvements to correlation estimator example
  • Correlate Access Code will not trigger until it receives enough bits to compare to the access code

gr-dtv

  • Performance improvements

gr-filter

  • Filter designer works with Qt5 and Python3
  • Taps blocks (e.g., Low Pass Filter Taps) now propagate parameter changes

gr-qtgui

  • Chooser label defaults now correct
  • Frequency Sink max hold plot for half spectrum width option shows correctly
  • Number Sink honors setting of 'avg' more consistently

gr-uhd

  • Add start time parameter to GRC blocks
  • Add message handler for GPIO control messages
  • Additional master clock rates in GRC blocks
  • UHD source sends tags on center frequency change

gr-video-sdl

  • Correct YUV format options

gr-zeromq

  • Connections no longer hang when flowgraph stops and other end is still connected (ZMQ_LINGER now set)
  • Receipt of bad PMTs logged (instead of exception)

Contributors

At LEAST the following authors contributed to this release.

[3.8.2.0] - 2020-08-21

Changed

Project Scope

  • Call SWIG without -modern flag if new enough to make that inherent, thus removing warnings

GRC

  • Mako templating now strict_undefined
  • Show block comments by default
  • dynamically updated block namespaces (execute imports from templates)
  • Name-lookup detection of dark color themes, adjusted input box color scheme

gr-dtv

  • dvb_bbscrambler: LUT 8B alignment (private, but relevant for future usable optimization)

Fixed

GRC

  • incorrect "clear console" and "save console" labels
  • generator: flow_graph.py.mako now contains import for print_function for compatibility in Py2 generation
  • variable_config.block.yml now properly handles configparser / ConfigParser import
  • Change port types of all selected block on key-press cycling, not just first one
  • Always check for Python version in flow graph generation, not only in specific block types
  • Don't run stale flow graphs
  • Prevent search keystrokes from modifying flowgraph

gr-blocks

  • file_sink flushes contents to file on stop()
  • file_meta_sink block YAML: emit proper default PMT dict
  • XMLRPC client/server block templates: use Py3 XMLRPC when possible

gr-digital

  • soft_dec_lut_gen now explicitly casts 2.0**prec to int
  • map_bb: add missing definition of static constexpr size_t s_map_size

gr-dtv

  • Reduce send_frame_size in UHD examples (broken after UHD v3.13.0.3-rc1)

gr-filter

  • logpwrfft YAML was hiding FFT length
  • FFT frequency range calculation was occasionally off due to abuse of numpy.arange

gr-filter

  • GRC band pass filter taps block: use firdes.complex_band_pass when complex
  • firdes.root_raised_cosine gain for unity alpha

gr-qtgui

  • qtgui_chooser regained 3.7 capability to set default
  • Frequency Sink hovering now respects set units
  • GRC blocks had optional stream inputs

gr-uhd

  • ignore len_tag_name in USRP Source YAML generator python
  • uhd_fft/uhd_siggen_gui: import order of sip and Qt
  • GRC example block errors

Added

GRC

  • OS X: Meta modifier key support (eq. Ctrl on other platforms)
  • configuration setting show_block_comments

gr-analog

  • Signal source cmd port

gr-zeromq

  • Message-based ZMQ blocks take bind argument, as necessary for N:1 patterns. Changes ABI.

Deprecated

gr-analog

  • Signal source freq port

[3.8.1.0] - 2020-04-08

Changed

Project Scope

  • clang-tidy improvements
    • Throw exceptions by value, catch by reference
    • emplace_back where applicable
    • empty() instead of vector::size() == 0
  • Use CMake to check for endianness instead of BOOST_BIG_ENDIAN

gr-fec

  • Scipy becomes optional dependency (for polar channel code construction)

gr_modtool

  • use Boost.UTF instead of cppunit

Fixed

Project Scope

  • FindQwt paths
  • floatAlmostEqual unittest assert function wrongly passing on sequence types
  • Only require boost unittest when testing is enabled
  • FindLOG4CPP typo
  • numpy.fft(pack) imports
  • several scipy imports that can be done with numpy alone

gnuradio-runtime

  • block gateway shadowed system port
  • Flaky message passing unit test contained timeout (not the test's job)
  • ctrlport/rpcaggregator & Co: removed storage of references to scope-lifetime objects
  • Sine table generation python was wrong
  • get_tags_in_range for delay < (end-start)
  • premature tag pruning
  • release flattened flowgraph after stopping; fixes restartability/shutdown issues

gr-analog

  • clipping in FM receiver: remove superfluous gain
  • C++ generation for multiple blocks

gr-audio

  • portaudio source: lock acquisition

gr-blocks

  • rotator VOLK workaround

gr-digital

  • map_bb buffer overflow
  • map_bb thread safety
  • additive_scrambler count based reset

gr-fec

  • heap corruption in async_decoder
  • cc_encoder was broken for constraint lengths > 8

gr-fft

  • restore Boost 1.53 compat

gr-qtgui

  • no longer requiring unnecessary key in edit_box_msg

gr-uhd

  • fixed examples under Py3
  • multichannel objects not populating channels

gr_modtool

  • wrong use of input -> raw_input
  • allow empty argument list
  • testing
  • check for and deny TSB under Python
  • QA addition bugs
  • correct path for C++ QA tests

GRC

  • several issues with YAML files
  • nested objects now properly populate namespaces
  • comments now included in block bounds calculation
  • Wiki documentation link removed from OOT blocks' docs tab
  • Dragging connections to auto-hide ports works now
  • generated and re-generated several example flowgraphs
  • bokeh_layout module name
  • Revert toggle buttons to text entry for bool block props, allowing GRC variables to be used

Added

Project Scope

  • Codec2 development branch / future compat
  • Boost 1.71 compat
  • CI now checks for formatting

gnuradio-runtime

  • dot graphs now contain message edges
  • Python wrapping for blocks' set_affinity and {g,s}et_alias

gr-uhd

  • UHD Filter API

GRC

  • block affinity, buffer sizes available as advanced options for blocks
  • testing
  • Python snippets (please snippet responsibly!)
  • show_id flag added to embedded python blocks, Probes
  • global option to toggle showing of IDs
  • Help "Keyboard Shortcut" entry

Deprecated

gr-analog

  • sig_source: freq port will be removed in the future

Added

gr-analog

  • sig_source: cmd port adds support for dicts, setting of frequency, amplitude, offset and phase parameters

[3.8.0.0] - 2019-08-09

Witness me!

Tonight, we release GNU Radio 3.8.0.0.

It's the first minor release version since more than six years, not without pride this community stands to face the brightest future SDR on general purpose hardware ever had.

Since we've not been documenting changes in the shape of a Changelog for the whole of the development that happened since GNU Radio 3.7.0, I'm afraid that these release notes will be more of a GLTL;DR (git log too long; didn't read) than a detailed account of what has changed.

What has _not** changed is the fact that GNU Radio is centered around a very simple truth:

Let the developers hack on DSP. Software interfaces are for humans, not the other way around.

And so, compared to the later 3.7 releases, nothing has fundamentally modified the way one develops signal processing systems with GNU Radio: You write blocks, and you combine blocks to be part of a larger signal processing flow graph.

With that as a success story, we of course have faced quite a bit of change in the systems we use to develop and in the people that develop GNU Radio. This has lead to several changes that weren't compatible with 3.7.

This is an excerpt only:

Fixed

Project Scope

  • Roughly 36 dBBug, (ETOOMANYBUGS)
  • Fixed .so versioning

Changed

Project Scope

  • C++11
  • merged the wholeness of the next branch
  • Dependency version bumps: CMake, GCC, MSVC, Swig, Boost
  • New dependencies: MPIR/GMP, Qt5, gsm, codec2
  • Removed dependencies: libusb, Qt4, CppUnit
  • Python: Python 2 & Python 3 compatible. 3.8 will be the last Py2k-compatible release series
  • gengen was replaced by templates (if you don't know gengen, don't do any research; save yourself that sorrow)
  • Modern CMake (as far as feasible at this point)
  • VOLK version updated to v2.0.0
  • .clang-format file now dictates coding style
  • clang-format'ed the whole tree.
  • installed CMake files now tell about configuration

gnuradio-runtime

  • reworked fractional tag time handling, especially in the context of resamplers

GRC

  • C++ generation as option
  • YAML instead of XML
  • removed blks2
  • much better canvas tooling
  • consistent gobject usage
  • ROUNDED ARROWS

gr-qtgui

  • moving from Qt4 to Qt5

gr-utils

  • gr_modtool now vastly improved

gr-vocoder

  • improved versatility
  • removed in-tree libgsm, libcodec2, use system-wide libs

Removed

Project Scope

  • Modules gr-comedi, gr-fcd and gr-wxgui are gone

gr-comedi

  • nobody could remember who used this, or for what. It has seen 0 active code contributions in the 3.7 lifecycle

gr-digital

  • python-based packet_encoder and related tools: Bugs that were sporadic and never fixed, so after long deprecation, we're removing it

gr-fcd

  • since it's currently untestable by the CI, it's being removed, as there was no code contributions. Generally, we strive to include all batteries with GNU Radio. Re-integration within a more general SDR interface would be desirable.

gr-utils

  • removed PyQwt (dead) based tools

gr-wxgui

  • Unmaintained, breaks on increasingly many systems, always was slower than Qtgui. We've been starting to tell people to migrate to Qt since at least 2015. Now, we're finally removing it.