Software Defined Radio
A project to explore the creation of and applications for Software Defined Radios, which allow you to receive any radio frequency and interpret the data using software -- basically a universal radio device
Introduction
Most Radio Frequency (RF) devices utilize specialized hardware circuits (RF frontends) to filter out unwanted frequencies & noise, and to decode & interpret the signal. Different frequencies (e.g 915MHz, 2.4GHz) require different types of antennas and circuits for optimal efficiency. Different modulation techniques (e.g. AM, FM, CDMA) require different algorithms (implemented in hardware or software) to decode.
A Software Defined Radio (SDR) is an RF device that can be programmed to receive any frequency within a large range. This is usually accomplished by using multiple antennas connected to multiple RF frontends, connected to a very sensitive digital capture device that is controlled by a computer or FPGA. Software on the computer can demodulate the signal and follow the Media Access Control (MAC) protocol (if any) using programmed algorithms.
Implementation & Scratchpad
This section lists work-in-progress notes regarding implementation of SDRs
RF Frontend Options
- A cable modem tuner module can capture 6.5MHz (IF bandwidth; limited by internal SAW filter?) centered at any frequency in the range 50MHz-890MHz (RF bandwidth)
- AC97 soundcard codec + narrow band downconverter
Part Research
No research done yet, just collected some mentioned hardware from some links as an example
Tuners
WiNRADIO WR-G526e (20-3000Mhz) tuner/down-converter; $6000 used somewhere Sharp BS2S7HZ1204 (950 to 2150MHz, 10 to 30MHz IF bandwidth (I/Q)) Sharp BS2S7VZ1302 (950 to 2150MHz, 10 to 30MHz IF bandwidth) Sharp VA1S1ED5056 (143 to 862MHz, 7 or 8 MHz IF bandwidth)
Sample Devices (ADCs)
Analog Devices AD6645: 80Msps at 14 bits, and is capable of bandpass (aka direct IF) sampling Measurement Computing ADC card (20Msps): $1300
Radio Scanners
Yaesu VR-5000 (+- 100kHz IF bandwidth): ~ 500-600 EUR AOR AR3000A (IF bandwith unknown): 780 EUR AOR AR8600MK2 (IF bandwith +- 2 MHz): 710 EUR AOR AR5000A (IF bandwith +- 5MHz): 1600EUR
Links
General Info
- GNU Radio: http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuradio/
- Software Defined Radio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_radio
- Modulation Techniques: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation
- About SDR: http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/sdr.html
- WARP Wireless Open Access Research Platform: http://warp.rice.edu/trac
- SDR Experiments: http://homepage3.nifty.com/ji3gab/english/dsp.html
- SDR Use: http://www.ewjt.com/kd5tfd/station-sdr1000.html
- Radio Communications Reference: http://wiki.radioreference.com/
Analog-to-Digital Converters
- Analog-to-Digital Converter Info: http://web.archive.org/web/20070107115337/www.comsec.com/wiki?AnalogToDigitalConverter
- High-Perfomance ADC Info: http://web.archive.org/web/20070930031541/users.rcn.com/wware1/aubrey-adc-notes
Radio Frequency Front End
- RF Front End Info: http://web.archive.org/web/20070107115344/www.comsec.com/wiki?RfFrontEnd
SDR Hardware Projects
- SDR Hardware: http://web.archive.org/web/20070112233914/http://www.comsec.com/wiki?GnuRadioHardware
- HPSDR Custom SDR: http://hpsdr.org/
- USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) Custom SDR: http://www.ettus.com/
- SSRP (Simple Software Radio Peripheral) Custom SDR: http://oscar.dcarr.org/ssrp/index.php
- Cable Modem Tuner Projects:
- Using BT878A:http://web.archive.org/web/20080125075336/http://www.domenech.org/homebrew-sdr/receiver-1.htm
- Using Microtune 4937: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7505
- Using CX2388x: http://www.geocities.com/how_chee/cx23881fc6.htm
- CX2388x GNU Radio Code: http://www.olifantasia.com/projects/gnuradio/mdvh/cx2388x/cxadc/
- PA3FWM's Custom SDR with FPGA: http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~ptdeboer/ham/sdr/#nov2008
- Microwave SDR Project: http://uwsdr.berlios.de/
- SR-7.0 Custom SDR: http://volodya-project.sourceforge.net/SR/sr.php
- WB6DHW's Custom SDR: http://web.archive.org/web/20071030200717/http://users.wildblue.net/wb6dhw/SDTCVR.html
- OH2NLT "Cheap DSP" Project: http://www.kolumbus.fi/juha.niinikoski/Cheap_dsp/Cheap_dsp.htm
- Linrad Hardware Examples: http://www.sm5bsz.com/linuxdsp/hware/recvr.htm
- SoftRock v5 SDR Kit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40/message/951
- SoftRock v4 SDR Kit: http://www.amqrp.org/kits/softrock40/
- SoftRock SDR Modifications: http://ewjt.com/kd5tfd/sdr1k-notebook/sr40/index.html
- Cheap USB ADC + FPGA: http://web.archive.org/web/20070109090929/www.comsec.com/wiki?N1ibtSoftwareRadioBoard
- DSP-10 Custom SDR: http://www.proaxis.com/~boblark/dsp10.htm
- Ciao Radio SDR: http://www.comsistel.com/Ciao%20Radio.htm
- RT2 Custom SDR: http://lekstutis.com/Artie/Ham/Index.html
- I0CG's SDR Project: http://www.i0cg.com/sdr-x.htm
- QRP Kits FireFly SDR Transceiver: http://www.qrpkits.com/firefly.html
- Elektor Magazine SDR Project: http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2007/may/software-defined-radio.91527.lynkx?
- NorCal 2030 QRP kit: http://www.norcalqrp.org/nc2030.htm
- Soundcard Upper SideBand Receiver: http://web.telia.com/~u33233109/saqrx/saqrx.html
- Soundcard Packet Radio: http://www.baycom.org/~tom/ham/soundmodem/
- Soundcard VLF Receiver: http://www.qsl.net/dl4yhf/vlf_rcvr.htm
Lists of SDR Links
- Lots of SDR Projects: http://f4dan.free.fr/sdr_eng.html
- Lots of SDR Projects: http://yu1lm.qrpradio.com/sdr%20rx%20yu1lm.htm
- Lots of SDR Links: http://www.rootshell.be/~threeme3/wiki.php?name=SoftwareRadio
SDR Groups, Blogs, Posts, etc
- http://www.tapr.org/
- http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/linux/gnuradio/
- http://slashdot.org/~gnuradio/comments
Software
- Linux data acquisition tools: http://www.comedi.org/index.html
Related Topics