Project Identity

Note

This Wiki page is generated from docs/PROJECT_IDENTITY.md. Edit the repository source rather than the Wiki directly.

South Signal Lab CLOCK — Project Identity and Citation

CLOCK is intentionally a short product-facing name. Because the word “clock” is generic, repository metadata, citations, archival records, and search-oriented prose use South Signal Lab CLOCK as the canonical unambiguous project identity.

Identity contract

Field	Canonical value
Product name	CLOCK
Canonical searchable/citation name	South Signal Lab CLOCK
Compact firmware identity	SSL CLOCK
Author	Axel Napolitano
Publisher / creator brand	South Signal Lab
Software license	PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0
Embedded target	STM32F401CCU6 / ARM Cortex-M4
Primary domain	Eurorack / modular-synthesizer timing and rhythm

The product name shown on the front panel and boot identity remains CLOCK. South Signal Lab CLOCK is used where ambiguity matters: search engines, software catalogs, citations, repository descriptions, release archives, and persistent identifiers.

Product scope boundary

The canonical product identity includes a deliberate functional boundary: South Signal Lab CLOCK is a digital timing, gate, and trigger instrument. Hardware Rev 1 is not positioned as a general CV/modulation generator. It has dedicated SYNC/RST inputs and eight digital outputs, but no general parameter-CV inputs or analog CV/modulation output subsystem.

This distinction should remain explicit in README, manual, release notes, and comparisons. Missing analog modulation is not a prerelease defect; it is a DIY cost/buildability and signal-quality decision. See ROADMAP.md for the product rationale and the separate post-1.0 feature path.

Machine-readable metadata

Two root-level files are authoritative companions to src/version.h:

• ../CITATION.cff supplies Citation File Format 1.2 metadata. GitHub recognizes it and exposes Cite this repository on the repository page. Zenodo can also consume supported CFF metadata when archiving GitHub releases.
• ../codemeta.json supplies CodeMeta 3.0 JSON-LD as SoftwareSourceCode, including author, publisher/brand, development status, target platform, programming languages, license, and discovery keywords.

CI documentation validation requires both files to carry the same current firmware version and canonical identity as the repository. This prevents release metadata from silently lagging behind firmware versioning.

Persistent identifiers

CLOCK does not invent or reserve identifier-looking strings. Persistent identifiers are added only after the corresponding external archive has actually minted them.

Planned identifier roles are deliberately distinct:

Identifier	Role
Git tag	Human/developer release identity
Commit hash	Exact Git revision
Release SHA-256	Integrity of a packaged artifact
DOI	Citable archived software release / concept record
SWHID	Content-addressed Software Heritage identity

DOI / Zenodo policy

A DOI should be introduced for a publication-quality beta or stable release rather than for every rapidly moving alpha snapshot. Once Zenodo is connected to the real public GitHub repository and an archive is minted:

1. add the real DOI to CITATION.cff;
2. add the persistent identifier to codemeta.json;
3. add a DOI badge/link to the root README;
4. preserve the Zenodo concept DOI separately from version-specific DOIs when both exist;
5. never add .zenodo.json unless Zenodo-specific metadata is actually required, so CITATION.cff remains the single citation metadata source.

Repository URL policy

The current firmware update QR points to the verified GitHub account URL https://github.com/napolitano. A repository-specific repository-code / codeRepository URL is intentionally omitted from CFF/CodeMeta until the final public repository URL is known and verifiable. Once established, the same exact canonical repository URL should be used in both metadata files and in the firmware update target.

Discovery vocabulary

The primary machine-readable keywords are intentionally descriptive rather than marketing-oriented:

eurorack, modular synthesizer, clock generator, trigger sequencer, gate sequencer, euclidean rhythm, rhythm generator, STM32F401, embedded firmware, PlatformIO, music technology.

These should also guide the eventual GitHub repository description and Topics so search-engine, GitHub, DataCite/Zenodo, and software-catalog terminology remain aligned.

From Munich with ♥