# Where to start in learning to develop and contribute to GNU Radio? **URL:** \ **Category:** GNU Radio\ **Created:** [April 11, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-start-in-learning-to-develop-and-contribute-to-gnu-radio/240406 "2014-04-11T23:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Detlef\_R](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/58f4c7/32.png) [@Detlef\_R](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Detlef_R)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-start-in-learning-to-develop-and-contribute-to-gnu-radio/240406/1 "2014-04-11T23:17:20Z")
I recently graduated with my degree in Computer Engineering, and the GNU Radio project is by far the most complex thing I’ve desired to work on. I’m looking for tips on how to get started learning GNU Radio from the ground up, build custom modules, and help develop the source. For example, an known issue that I would like to eventually be able to work on is solving Message Passing blocks not terminating from head block (and similar) termination. So my question is, what type of road map should I construct for learning the in’s and out’s of gnu radio, from custom module writing, all the way down to the scheduler. I have the absolute basics down (writing blocks in python) and will move to the C API next. But I’m not sure on where to start understanding the foundation of how it all works together. Through my journey, I’m looking to improve the Documentation of GNU Radio so it is easy for new people to join the project. Ken ---
**Author:** ![kena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@kena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kena)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-start-in-learning-to-develop-and-contribute-to-gnu-radio/240406/2 "2014-04-11T23:47:24Z")
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi Ken, welcome to the community! I’ll go ahead and answer in-line, since this seems to make sense here: On 11.04.2014 23:16, Ken A. wrote: > I recently graduated with my degree in Computer Engineering, and > the GNU Radio project is by far the most complex thing I’ve desired > to work on. I’m looking for tips on how to get started learning GNU > Radio from the ground up, build custom modules, and help develop > the source. > just go through the Information on the main wiki side > [http://gnuradio.org](http://gnuradio.org) . A lot of people make the mistake to skip the > first pages (what GNU Radio is etc), and end up having misconceptions > after weeks of development. > For example, an known issue that I would like to eventually be able > to work on is solving Message Passing blocks not terminating from > head block (and similar) termination. > That’s actually a rather complicated scheduler problem. A solution is > highly desirable, but to make it short: The GNU Radio asynchronous > message passing interface does not support specifying an “end of > usage” state for the message port. If GR stopped execution when the > synchronous sample stream flowgraph was finished, not all messages > might have been delivered… > I see this as an architectural challenge, actual. > So my question is, what type of road map should I construct for > learning the in’s and out’s of gnu radio, from custom module > writing, all the way down to the scheduler. I have the absolute > basics down (writing blocks in python) and will move to the C API > next. But I’m not sure on where to start understanding the > foundation of how it all works together. You’ll learn by doing, actually. “Official” written documentation is sparse (a little bit) and can be found in some presentations and papers. But the main source of information is of course the (luckily in most parts nicely readable) source code. > Through my journey, I’m looking to improve the Documentation of GNU > Radio so it is easy for new people to join the project. > I like your attitude 😉 Greetings, and: happy hacking! Marcus -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - [http://www.enigmail.net/](http://www.enigmail.net/) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJTSGKkAAoJEBQ6EdjyzlHts+cH/i/DqWt0PujHlfGHln73B96p dvY+hfeWmiJQTwgbc5gaPeG1eTxoWnoUMpxZPcVieP8Fb0o7q7YWmcH4a20a7Fuj sKjpQ54Zg+JKZXQJqw5NekgG4+lidq3iZlgOk3P8M4ALqk125+smWWUxZ77FA/RX AP6uorVY/lB6O6NgsqUNHLwFOMIi1mV4ZL6zqnunRxVmk+zGgt2wLQeEAbMSoN4J hzP8J41VG7RTzLK/5s9ceivblUXsFo8NeM7e9+jbIPhSvqE2VpqBR1NS06lJbG5x Oqw/tJS0VZHCnCrN9IHJ36SINETpJlW4ha9SF88+U/IS0Mf5ZvilQgc7B8IPOnM= =Sntn -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---
**Author:** ![kena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@kena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kena)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-start-in-learning-to-develop-and-contribute-to-gnu-radio/240406/3 "2014-04-12T15:29:11Z")
Hey Ken, welcome to the crew, and I’m happy to hear you’re interested in participating. Let me add to Marcus’ email: First of all, we have a page for people like you: [http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki/Development](http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki/Development). On 04/11/2014 11:46 PM, Marcus M. wrote: > > For example, an known issue that I would like to eventually be able > > to work on is solving Message Passing blocks not terminating from > > head block (and similar) termination. > > That’s actually a rather complicated scheduler problem. A solution is > > highly desirable, but to make it short: The GNU Radio asynchronous > > message passing interface does not support specifying an “end of > > usage” state for the message port. If GR stopped execution when the > > synchronous sample stream flowgraph was finished, not all messages > > might have been delivered… > > I see this as an architectural challenge, actual. Yeah, hold back on that. Even if it were simple, deep architectural changes like this need to be discussed. We have monthly calls you can join. > > So my question is, what type of road map should I construct for > > learning the in’s and out’s of gnu radio, from custom module > > writing, all the way down to the scheduler. I have the absolute > > basics down (writing blocks in python) and will move to the C API > > next. But I’m not sure on where to start understanding the > > foundation of how it all works together. Make sure you’ve read all there is on the wiki. Something we want to do is to port all Python blocks to C++, maybe that’s a good place to start. I think the FM pre-/de-emphasis blocks are among those, if you want a place to start. Have fun, and come back here for questions! Martin