[Asterisk-Users] G.729 licensing/patent?

[Steven Critchfield]

On Thu, 2004-10-21 at 22:25 +0200, Roy Sigurd Karlsbakk wrote:
> > There are two groups of patents related to G.729 (and to other codecs, 
> > and to many other signal processing techniques, such as modems). There 
> > are patents for algorithms, and patents for signal processing 
> > apparatus. The ones about algorithms - generally computational 
> > techniques to speed it up - are not an issue outside the US. Even in 
> > the US they can generally be sidesteped, by using slower methods to 
> > achieve the same effect. The ones covering signal processing equipment 
> > exist in many markets, especially most of Europe. Whatever your view 
> > on software patents, as soon as you run a G.729 code somewhere you 
> > have a physical device infringing those patents.
> 
> How can generic PC hardware be covered by a patent? It's just a piece 
> of software, that is, algorithms neatly put together with some control 
> etc.

Have you read the wording of a patent? They have to be worded vague
enough to cover most ways of doing something but with out getting too
vague as to become invalid. So a lot of patents use wording such as "a
device implementing this function to result in that output". This covers
both a quick circuit hack and a generic DSP or CPU doing the same thing.
As soon as the algorithm is executed by a chip, it becomes part of the
device that does somthing to end in a specific result.  
-- 
Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>