[Discuss-gnuradio] host format versus device format

[Jason Matusiak]

For some reason I got myself wrapped around the axle with what is going
on with the host and device format options.  For instance, if I look at
the RFNoC Radio block, it has a host format with the options: complex
float32, complex int16, and vita word32, and a device format of complex
int16 (with no other options).

The way I understand things, the host format is basically the wire
connection between blocks.  So complex float32 is I/Q with 4B for each
in float format (so 8B per sample), and complex int16 is 2B on int for
I/Q (4B per sample).  Am I still OK?  If so, I am failing to understand
the device format option...

Although, all that said, as I look at a USRP Source block, it uses the
term "output type" (which is analogous to the host format) and a "wire
format" which I am guessing is the same as the "device format"  If that
is correct, that means I don't have any idea what that wire is doing (as
I would have mentally thought that the output type is the "wire").

I tried looking for some documentation on this but came up empty (though
I am sure it is out there somewhere).