[alsa-devel] [PATCH 5/6] compress: add the core file

[Pierre-Louis Bossart]

> Even the thread which actually writes the data to ring buffer may not
> have the idea of frames
> So the start threshold does not require to be on frame boundaries. It
> is just to avoid START when the buffer is written with the data. If 
> the write gives more data than the ring buffer, write will not unblock 
> and the user space application may not be able to call START.
> This will be an issue if you go for non-blocking implementation.
> Otherwise, START should be called in another thread than the thread 
> which writes the data.

I did not understand a single line of this comment. 
Why is this start threshold needed again and how would its value be defined
for compressed data?
-Pierre