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such as modulation type, wideband and narrowband operations, radiated power, and
Traditional LMR devices are based on specialized hardware such as transistors and
integrated circuits. In more modern LMR radios, digital signal processor (DSP) chips
are used for analog- to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion of the radio
transmissions. A DSP chip is a real-time digital signal processor that can alter its
Recent advances in DSP chip design and fabrication will allow for more
advanced DSP chips able to support multiple functions. This is due to continuous
small sizes (fractions of a micron), therefore producing DSP chips with more built-in
functionality. SDR devices will take advantage of these advanced DSP chips to have
existing and evolving LMR systems by switching modes and also are capable of
an antenna. A digital signal processor would read the converter, and then its software
would transform the stream of data from the converter to any other form the
application requires.
to a radio antenna.
The ideal scheme is, due to the actual technology progress limits, not completely
conversion between the digital and the analog domains at a high enough rate and a
high enough accuracy at the same time, and without relying upon physical processes
Receiver architecture
necessary to tune the signal to an intermediate frequency and the radio frequency
step and this device introduces its own problems. For example if spurious signals are
present , these compete with the desired signals within the amplifier's dynamic range.
They may introduce distortion in the desired signals, or may block them completely.
The standard solution is to put band-pass filters between the antenna and the
amplifier, but these reduce the radio's flexibility – which some see as the whole point
of a software radio. Real software radios often have two or three analog "channels"
that are switched in and out. These contain matched, amplifiers and sometimes a
mixer.
HISTORY
The term "Software Defined Radio" was coined in 1991 by Joseph Mitola,
who published the first paper on the topic in 1992. Though the concept was first
proposed in 1991, software-defined radios have their origins in the defense sector
since the late 1970s in both the U.S. and Europe. One of the first public software
radio initiatives was a U.S. military project named Speakeasy. The primary goal of
the Speakeasy project was to use programmable processing to emulate more than 10
existing military radios, operating in frequency bands between 2 and 2000 MHz.
Further, another design goal was to be able to easily incorporate new coding and
modulation standards in the future, so that military communications can keep pace
radio terminals that require support include hand-held, vehicular, airborne and
achieved through the use of SDR systems based on an internationally endorsed open
The program is providing a flexible new approach to meet diverse war fighter
functionality and expandability is built upon the SCA. The SCA, despite its military
fact that civilian users can more easily settle with a fixed architecture, optimized for a
specific function, and as such more economical in mass market applications. Still,
software defined radio's inherent flexibility can yield substantial benefits in the
longer run, once the fixed costs of implementing it have gone down enough to
overtake the cost of iterated redesign of purpose built systems. This then explains the
and rapid development tools for SDR education and research are provided by the
direct conversion receivers of the more distant past, the mixer technologies used are
based on the quadrature sampling detector and the quadrature sampling exciter.
signals are down converted to the audio frequency band, which is sampled by a high
performance audio frequency ADC. First generation SDRs used a PC sound card to
provide ADC functionality. The newer software defined radios use embedded high
performance ADCs that provide higher dynamic range and are more resistant to noise
and RF interference.
A fast PC performs the digital signal processing (DSP) operations using
software (usually amateur-written) specific for the radio hardware. In the case of Flex
Radio Systems Inc., and several other software radio efforts (principally amateur
radio), the actual code is based on the open source SDR library DttSP. One such
example is the Flex Radio Systems Power SDR software that is used by various SDR
manufacturers.
The SDR software performs all of the demodulation, filtering (both radio
frequency and audio frequency), and signal enhancement (equalization and binaural
presentation). Uses include every common amateur modulation: Morse code, single
digital modes such as radio teletype, slow-scan television, and packet radio[10].
Amateurs also experiment with new modulation methods: for instance, the DREAM
open-source project decodes the COFDM technique used by Digital Radio Mondiale.
More recently, the GNU Radio using primarily the Universal Software Radio
Peripheral (USRP) uses a USB 2.0 interface, an FPGA, and a high- speed set of
software. Its sampling and synthesis bandwidth is a thousand times that of PC sound
The HPSDR (High Performance Software Defined Radio) project uses a 16-bit
also operate in the VHF and UHF range using either mixer image or alias responses.
comprises a backplane onto which other boards plug in. This allows experimentation
with new techniques and devices without the need to replace the entire set of boards.
An exciter provides 1/2W of RF over the same range or into the VHF and UHF range
Features
configuration of the system by just selecting the appropriate software module to run.
handset type or the subscriber's handset can reconfigure itself to network type. SDR
as software modules and multiple instances of such modules that implement different
realizing global roaming facility. If the terminal is incompatible with the network
installed onto the handset (possibly over-the-air) resulting in seamless network access
across various geographies. Further, if the handset used by the subscriber is a legacy
handset, the infrastructure equipment can use a software module implementing the
This section gives a brief overview of a basic conventional digital radio system
and then explains how SDR technology can be used to implement radio functions in
of three main functional blocks: RF section, IF section and baseband section. The RF
Figure 1
transmitting/receiving the radio frequency (RF) signal from the antenna via a coupler
and converting the RF signal to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The RF front-
end on the receive path performs RF amplification and analog down conversion from
power amplification.
interface between the analog and digital sections of the radio system. DDC/DUC
respectively.
signal on transmit path and demodulation (also called digital tuning) of the signal on
receive path.
frequency hopping, timing recovery, correlation) and also implements the link layer
The DDC/DUC and baseband processing operations require large computing power
and these modules are generally implemented using ASICs or stock DSPs.
radio systems. If DSPs are used for baseband processing, a programmable digital
radio (PDR) system can be realized. In other words, in a PDR system baseband
operations and link layer protocols are implemented in software. The DDC/DUC
system is that any change made to the RF section of the system will impact the
ASICs.
to-digital conversion and vice-versa right at the antenna) an ideal software radio
dynamic range and sampling rate required to implement this in a commercially viable
manner.
Figure 2
The system uses a generic hardware platform with programmable modules (DSPs,
system, the software modules that implement link- layer protocols and
NTIA mandated this transition from wideband to narrowband operation, and the
transition must be completed for VHF channels by 2005 and by 2008 for UHF
narrowband systems but are more often considering 800 MHz trunked systems to
replace their legacy systems. This strategy creates significant challenges in terms of
SDR subscriber equipment will include the capability to operate across multiple
Radio technology has progressed from being hardware dependent to being more
software oriented. Many view SDR as the next logical step in the evolution process of
radio technology. Figure 2 shows the evolution of SDR technology. The evolution of
all radio technologies begins with hardware radios. Between now and roughly 2008,
software defined radios will start to become more available. In the future, SDRs will
be deployed offering more flexibility and more capabilities. Much farther in the
future, the ideal SDR device will become available, offering the most flexibility and
the most capabilities.
Hardware Radio—Hardware radios are the baseline for comparison with other radio
technologies. Hardware radios were most commonly used in the 1950s and 1960s.
These radios were heavy but extremely durable and long lasting. All radio
components were hard-wired. Switches, dials, and buttons were the only means for a
user to operate the radios. Any changes in operating frequency required physically
swapping the crystals that defined the operating frequency of the radio. Typical
examples are Bendix King, General Electric, and Motorola radios.
Ideal Software Defined Radio—Ideal SDRs differs from SDRs in that all radio
components will be implemented by software, including the RF front end. It is
expected that ideal SDRs will have a dramatic improvement in overall system
performance relative to the initial generations SDRs. However, because of
technology limitations, ideal SDRs are unachievable today and may not be realizable
in the foreseeable future.
Figure 4
6. CONCLUSION
suitable for use by the public safety community is still in an early stage. This is due to
several factors. SDR technology has the potential to cause interference with other
existing radio systems. The FCC has made rulings addressing interference issues but
has not yet completely addressed other concerns such as spectrum management.
Another factor that indicates that the development of SDR technology is in its early
stages is that the traditional LMR equipment vendors, although active in the