Buffers, buffers everywhere... It depends on the sampling rate and technology (USB, ethernet, direct PCI), but in general 1msec is achievable, 10microsec is not

Buffers, buffers everywhere... It depends on the sampling rate and technology (USB, ethernet, direct PCI), but in general 1msec is achievable, 10microsec is not achievable. That's why BladeRF-wiphy ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25814237 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25814237 ) implements the lower level phy on FPGA - there's no way to reply an IEEE 802.11 ACK frame within 10 microseconds of the end of the received frame, as required by the standard.