Why make a new closed source engine
During the 6 years that SPLAT! and later Signal-Server was used in CloudRF it was enhanced, at cost, with key features such as new models, multi-threading and high resolution LIDAR support. It became apparent that like many open source projects it had outgrown its original purpose which was for long range (TV) broadcasting using large 1x1 degree SRTM tiles and was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
The problems with LIDAR tiles which span the meridian in particular (London, Cambridge etc) proved very difficult to fix due to SPLAT!'s original design which uses fixed tile sizes and positive westings - design decisions influenced by the standard size 1200x1200 NASA SRTM tiles. The fixes and code were getting uglier with each commit.
A new design was proposed by an experienced developer, who significantly did not have a radio background which is often the problem with specialist tools as domain experts != expert software developers.
This new design was implemented from scratch as a proprietary application written in modern object orientated C++, focused on LIDAR, minus any GPL code from SPLAT!/Signal-Server. Some public domain code is included in the form of the ITM model. Due to licensing uncertainty the ITWOM model was excluded.
What will happen to Signal-Server
Signal-Server is not owned by CloudRF, we created it and now maintain it on a reduced priority. As open source software it belongs to anyone and at the time of writing there were 35 forks of it on Github with additional features proposed so if any of these are submitted as pull requests they will be considered for merging.
Signal server is excellent for its original purpose of wide area UHF broadcasting with SRTM tiles.
Which engine is best for a 200km TV broadcast
Signal-Server
Which engine is best for a 5km urban link with 2m LIDAR data
Sleipnir
Which engine is best for a region with mixed 5m and 30m data
Sleipnir
Where is the Sleipnir source code
Its private and not for sale.
Where is the Signal-Server source code
https://github.com/Cloud-RF/Signal-Server
Our company spent weeks trying to integrate Signal-Server for a project (to save spending money) but need your help now ASAP!
Consider the hourly rate of the staff member that was tasked to work on that. Multiply it by the hours they spent and present this information to a company director who understands the value of time and ask for their opinion. Sack the middle-manager who thought this was a good idea.
Signal-Server is just a component in a much larger system which has taken years to develop.
We're too busy with CloudRF to help companies integrate Signal-Server into their own networks. If you have a Signal-Server issue you need help with you can post it on Github.