Hands-On Software Defined Radio

Transcript Hands-On Software Defined Radio

Hands-On Software Defined Radio

First and Foremost: Thank You!

Eric Ellison, AA4SW Dan Babcock, N4XWE

Presentation Overview

 Brief introduction to SDR concepts  Examples of SDR RF hardware  Examples of SDR software  PC System Requirements  Musings on applications and the future  Links and Resources to get you started © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

What is an SDR anyway?

oftware

efined

adio

An SDR in general is a radio that has   Primary functionality (mod/demodulation, filtering, etc) defined in software DSP algorithms implemented in configurable hardware and/or PC software Best known examples of SDRs   FlexRadio Systems SDR-1000, FLEX-5000A Tony Parks, KB9YIG’s SoftRock series of kits An SDR is

NOT

Why SDR?

Why would you do that? (Use a PC for a radio, that is?)  Radios look more and more like computers – user acceptance  Highest performance: FlexRadio FLEX-5000A  Lowest Cost: SoftRock RXTX, US$31   Most Flexible: HPSDR, USRP Demodulation/Filtering/Interfacing flexibility – user demands  Pervasive, inexpensive

and

Computer or Radio?

Highest Performance

Lowest Cost

SoftRock RXTXv6.2

Most Flexible

Why SDR?

Why would you do that? (Use a PC for a radio, that is?)  Radios look more and more like computers – user acceptance  Highest performance: FlexRadio FLEX-5000A  Lowest Cost: SoftRock RXTX, US$31  Most Flexible: HPSDR, USRP  Demodulation/Filtering/Interfacing flexibility – user demands  Pervasive, inexpensive

and

Why SDR?

A more appropriate question would be: Why

wouldn’t

you do that?

What Is SDR?

How do they do that? (Make a PC into a radio, that is?)  Antenna to speaker (RX)  Microphone (or paddle, keyboard, computer) to antenna (TX)  Modulation, Demodulation and Filtering  RF generation  Operating the Radio – the Graphical User Interface (GUI) © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Basics - RX

SDR

SDR Basics - RX

QSD

SDR Basics - RX

LINE (A/D) INPUT SOUND CARD SPKR (D/A) OUTPUT

OSC DDS, XTAL CPU MEM VID RF INPUT

RF HARDWARE PC HARDWARE

SDR Basics - RX

USER INTERFACE

A/D

Digital Down Converter USB2 CPU MEM VID OSC DDS, XTAL A/D IN D/A OUT SOUND CARD RF INPUT

RF HARDWARE

DIGITAL I/Q DATA STREAM

PC HARDWARE

SDR Basics - TX

MIC INPUT SOUND CARD LINE OUTPUT QSE

CPU MEM VID AUDIO INPUT

PC HARDWARE

OSC DDS, XTAL

RF HARDWARE

SDR Basics - TX

USER INTERFACE CPU MEM VID USB2 MIC AUDIO MODULATED RF USB I/F Digital Up Converter

A/D

A/D IN D/A OUT SOUND CARD A/D IN OSC DDS, XTAL AUDIO INPUT

PC HARDWARE RF HARDWARE

Modulation and Demodulation and Filtering, Oh My!

 Software Algorithms (e.g., DttSP)  Hardware Algorithms (e.g., inside an FPGA)  Mathematics, very dangerous!

You go first!

RF Generation

The Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The GUI is your window into controlling your SDR  What you see is what you get!

 Conventional (PowerSDR) or SDR-adapted (Rocky)  One size does NOT fit all  Controls hardware functions (obvious)  PTT, antenna switching, RF power level  Controls software functions (not so obvious)  Modulation/demodulation type, calibration, RX filter BW  Ancillary functions: logging, spotting, multiplier checking, grayline © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Hardware

Some Examples of SDR Hardware  Homebrew  SoftRock - RXTXv6.2

 HPSDR - Atlas, Ozy, Janus, Penelope, Mercury, Alex    Quicksilver - QS1R (RX only now, QS1T TX coming soon) USRP – USRP-PKG, LFRX, LFTX FlexRadio Systems – SDR-1000, FLEX-5000A  Perseus and SDR-IQ (RX only) © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Hardware

       Cost: US$30 to US$38 QSD RX/QSE RX 1W RF output Crystal controlled 7 versions:        160m (1.812, 1.843, 1.919) 80m (3.514, 3.549, 3.579) 80m/40m (3.507/7.014, 3.527/7.055) 40m/30m (7.014, 7.056, 10.124) 30m/20m (10.124, 14.050) 17m/15m (21.050, 21.160) 12m/10m (user supplied xtals) XTALLv1.1 (US$12+20)  16 DIP switch selected frequencies Made by Tony Parks, KB9YIG SoftRock RXTXv6.2

Sidebar: SoftRock History

      SoftRocks Through Time 2005: SoftRock 40 Receiver (kit retired)   4x Xtal Osc, QSD, RX only 1,000 kits produced (800 by AmQRP, 200 by KB9YIG) Q1-Q2 2006: SoftRock 5 Receiver (kit retired)   RC phase shifter, 2 board set (QSD and BPF/Osc), RX only 1,000 kits produced Q2-Q3 2006: SoftRock 6 Receiver (kit retired)   2 bands on one board, 4x or 8x clock, RX only 2,000 kits produced Q2-Q3 2006: SoftRock 7 Receiver (kit retired)   RC phase shifter, quadrature mixer (no QSD) for better performance on 10m, RX only 500 produced Q4 2006: SoftRock Lite Receiver (only $10!) (kit retired)   QSD similar to SoftRock 6, RX only Over 2,700 produced Q4 2006: SoftRock RXTX (v6.1, v6.2) (current production)   SoftRock 6 RX, QSE, 1W PA, transceiver Over 2,400 sold so far © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Sidebar: SoftRock History

Think SDR isn’t interesting or popular?

11,000 SoftRock owners* disagree with you!!!!

Thank You

for your contribution to SDR,

Tony Parks, KB9YIG

* Well, maybe some of them own more than one kit. As a member of sAA (SoftRock Assemblers Anonymous), I can only tell you that I own more than one.

SDR Examples: Hardware

What is the HPSDR Project…?

The HPSDR Project is a modular, open source hardware and software platform for development of all components of a Software Defined Radio.

It is also a group of volunteers dedicated to the building of a pool of open-source Software Defined Radio design information.

HPSDR

specifically

is a radio with the following features:     Very High Performance Based upon an open source model (OHL/NCL hardware, GPL software) Modular and expandable Contributes to the advancement the State of the Radio Art © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

…and why is TAPR involved?

HPSDR is not based in Tucson  Group of dedicated volunteers with worldwide participation  HPSDR group is tied together by the Internet (Teamspeak, E-mail, Web-based Wiki) HPSDR is not Packet Radio   It

could

be used for that mode, since it is software defined It is predominately digital Main components are fully assembled and tested (not traditional TAPR kits)  Fine pin pitch of SMT components requires special tools and skills for assembly   Not for the faint of heart (or fuzzy-visioned) Simple boards still offered as kits, complex ones offered assembled and tested © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

TAPR’s MISSION

Support HPSDR development with: R&D funding • Breadboard prototypes • Alpha PCBs Volume production • Put leading edge technology into many hands Result: Ever growing pool of contributors, experimenters and subsequent advancement of the radio art

Even though HPSDR is not Packet Radio, TAPR’s mission hasn’t really changed!

The Boards

  Atlas: The Backplane (US$35 – kit) Pinocchio: The Extender (US$18 – kit)  Ozymandias: USB gateway (US$137 a/t)  Janus: Baseband A/D and D/A Converter (US$163 a/t)  Penelope: Transmitter/Exciter (US$219 a/t)  Mercury: Direct Sampling Front End (coming soon)  Alexiares: RF Bandpass Filter Board Set (coming soon) http://tapr.org

Atlas Backplane

Pinocchio Extender

Ozymandias USB Gateway

Janus – A/D and D/A Converter

Penelope – Transmitter Exciter

Mercury - Direct Sampling Front End

Alexiares – RF Bandpass Filters

Atlas/Ozy/Janus, why do I need them?

If you have (or are contemplating) an SDR-1000  Sound card? We don’t need no stinkin’ sound card!

 Janus has a 24-bit, 192-ksps A/D input  Replaces Delta-44 ($150) or Edirol FA-66 ($300)  Oops, don’t have a parallel port!

Atlas/Ozy/Janus, why do I need them?

If you

don’t

have an SDR-1000  Why not?

 Want to play with low cost SDR?

 Try Tony KB9YIG’s SoftRock series ($31) 

groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40

 How about a high-performance audio spectrum analyzer?

SDR Examples: Hardware

Quicksilver QS1R VERB           VERB = VErsatile Receiver Board 16-bit 125Ms/s ADC 15kHz – 55MHz Receiver (LPF input) 15kHz – 300MHz Receiver (direct input) No sound system required USB 2.0 connection to computer Very high-performance and versatile SDRMAXII GUI, QS1RServer control/DSP software and hardware is Open Source Cost: US$849 Designed by Phil Covington, N8VB http://www.philcovington.com/QuickSilver http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qs1r © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Hardware

More Quicksilver Boards From N8VB   QS1F – A Front-end Filter Board for the QS1R   Preselctor RF Amplifier   Planned availability: June/July 2008 QS1T – Direct Up Conversion Transmitter Board  15kHz – 55MHz  Attenuator 1 Watt Output  Planned availability: Aug/Sep 2008 http://www.philcovington.com/QuickSilver http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qs1r © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Hardware

Ettus Research USRP         USRP = Universal Software Radio Peripheral Motherboard accepts up to four daughter cards Open Source hardware and software On-board FPGA and USB 2.0 interface Ten daughter card types, and counting!

GNU Radio supports Linux, Windows, Mac Cost: $700 (including enclosure & PS) Built by Matt Ettus, N2MJI http://www.ettus.com

SDR Examples: Hardware

Ettus Research USRP Daughter Cards 800MHz to 2400MHz Receiver           DC to 30MHz Receiver (US$75) DC to 30MHz Transmitter (US$75) 1MHz to 250MHz Receiver (US$75) 1MHz to 250MHz Transmitter (US$75) 50MHz to 860MHz Receiver (US$100) 800MHz to 2400MHz Receiver (US$150) 750MHz to 1050MHz Transceiver (US$275) 1150MHz to 1450MHz Transceiver (US$275) 1.5GHz to 2.1GHz Transceiver (US$275) 2.3GHz to 2.9GHz Transceiver (US$275) http://www.ettus.com

SDR Examples: Hardware

FlexRadio Systems SDR-1000        Discontinued, available used High performance 160m – 6m band TX coverage 12kHz – 60MHz RX coverage Available in 1W or 100W version Requires supported sound system Cost: US$1,000 - US$1500 used http://www.flex-radio.com

SDR Examples: Hardware

FlexRadio Systems FLEX-5000A          Very high performance 160m – 6m band TX coverage 10kHz – 65MHz RX coverage Available 100W version No sound system required Requires Firewire connection to PC Also available as FLEX-5000C with integrated computer Cost: US$2799 Built by Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR http://www.flex-radio.com

SDR Examples: Hardware

Perseus VLF- HF Receiver          14-bit 80Ms/s ADC Step input attenuator, 10-band preselector High IP3 preamp 10kHz – 30MHz Receiver 10kHz – 40MHz spectrum analyzer No sound system required USB 2.0 connection to computer Perseus Control Software for Windows 2000, XP, Vista Cost: £553 (€694, US$1075) excl vat http://www.microtelecom.it/perseus Hamvention Booths 652-653 © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Hardware

RF Space SDR-IQ VLF – HF Receiver         14-bit 66.6Ms/s ADC Switched input attenuators and filters 500Hz – 30MHz Receiver/Spectrum Analyzer No sound system required USB 2.0 powered – no power supply Network Server for Linux/Windows allows remote use SpectraVue Software for Windows 2000, XP, Vista Cost: US$499 http://www.rfspace.com

SDR Examples: Software

Some Examples of SDR Software  PowerSDR (http://www.flex-radio.com)  Rocky  uWSDR (http://www.dxatlas.com/rocky) (http://uwsdr.berlios.de)  SDRMAXII  SDR-Shell  Linrad  Winrad (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qs1r) (http://ewpereira.info/sdr-shell) (http://www.nitehawk.com/sm5bsz/linuxdsp/linrad.htm) (http://www.winrad.org/winrad/)  SpectraVue (http://www.moetronix.com)  DttSP (http://dttsp.sourceforge.net) © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Software

PowerSDR  Windows only at this time  Open Source  Support for SDR-1000, FLEX-5000A, SoftRock, HPSDR http://www.flex-radio.com

SDR Examples: Software

PowerSDR http://www.flex-radio.com

SDR Examples: Software

uWSDR  Windows, Linux, Mac OS X  Open Source hardware and software  DSP core based on DttSP  Hardware in development  Group effort, similar to HPSDR http://uwsdr.berlios.de

SDR Examples: Software

uWSDR Architecture Diagram http://uwsdr.berlios.de

SDR Examples: Software

uWSDR GUI http://uwsdr.berlios.de

SDR Examples: Software

SDRMAXII  Originally Windows only, now ported to Linux  Open Source  Support for QS1R  Written by Phil Covington, N8VB http://www.philcovington.com/QuickSilver http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qs1r © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Software

SDR Shell  Linux Only  Open Source  Developed using the Qt Toolkit under Ubuntu Linux  GUI control for DttSP SDR core  Currently RX-only (TX under development)  Written by Edson Pereira, PU1JTE, N1VTN, JF1AFN http://ewpereira.info/sdr-shell © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Software

Linrad  Linux, Windows, Free BSD  Works with any soundcard for which the computer has drivers  Free Software  Written by Leif Asbrink, SM5BSZ http://www.nitehawk.com/sm5bsz/linuxdsp/linrad.htm

SDR Examples: Software

Linrad http://www.nitehawk.com/sm5bsz/linuxdsp/linrad.htm

SDR Examples: Software

Winrad  Windows only  Implements a subset of Linrad features  Support for SDR-14, SDR-IQ, Perseus, Elektor  Written by Alberto, I2PHD and Jeffrey, WA6KBL http://www.winrad.org/winrad © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

SDR Examples: Software

SpectraVue  Windows only  Linux Drivers, ActiveX Control source provided  Bundled with SDR-IQ Receiver http://www.moetronix.com/spectravue.htm

SDR Examples: Software

SpectraVue http://www.rfspace.com/Support.html

SDR Examples: Software

DttSP  Linux, Windows, (portable to Mac)  Open Source  Written in ANSI-C  Basic processes needed to operate high-performance SDR  Project Founders:  Dr. Frank Brickle, AB2KT  Dr. Robert McGwier, N4HY http://dttsp.sourceforge.net

PC Requirements

How Much Computer Do I really Need?

Q: How much should I spend? A: How much do you have?

More

Better

, but this should do:  Sound System:  CPU: Pentium Class, 1GHz or faster  Memory: 1GByte (O/S dependent)  HDD: 10GByte or more  Ports: USB 2.0 if you use a USB sound card   Ports: Firewire (IEEE-1394) if you use a Firewire sound card Display: Get a big one – you’ll be staring at it for hours © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Sound System Requirements

The Sound System is the single most important part of your SDR

Don’t

:   Expect your motherboard’s built-in sound system to work Buy a $9 no-name sound card  Use 6 foot clip leads to feed audio to your sound system

:   Buy the best sound system that you can afford Use high-quality shielded cables The Dynamic Range of your mixer-type SD RX is determined by the

SOUND SYSTEM

Sound System Requirements

The Sound System is the single most important part of your SDR    ADC resolution: 24 bits ADC sampling rate: 48K, 96K, 192K – bigger slice of the band ADC S/N ratio – look for around 100dB    

MUST

have stereo line input Computer Interface – Firewire (IEEE-1394), USB 2.0, PCI, PCMCIA Audio Interface – multiple inputs/outputs can simplify cabling External DC Power – may be required, even on a powered interface Another Solution:  Buy a DS/DUC SDR or one with a built in Sound System © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Sound Card Examples

 High-end Sound Systems HPSDR Atlas/Ozy/Janus (USB 2.0)    24-bit resolution, 192kHz sample rate, >100dB S/N Will NOT work as a general-purpose Sound System Under US$400 © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

HPSDR Atlas Ozy Janus http://hpsdr.org

http://tapr.org

Sound Card Examples

  High-end Sound Systems HPSDR Atlas/Ozy/Janus (USB 2.0)    24-bit resolution, 192kHz sample rate, >100dB S/N Will NOT work as a general-purpose Sound System Under US$400 Edirol FA-66 (Firewire)  24-bit resolution, 192kHz sample rate, 102dB S/N  Under US$300 © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Sound Card Examples

Edirol FA-66 http://www.roland.com

Sound Card Examples

M-Audio Delta 44 http://www.m-audio.com

Sound Card Examples

Lower-end Sound Systems NOTE: I have not tested these, so beware!

Sound Card Examples

Edirol UA-1ex http://www.roland.com

Sound Card Examples

Lower-end Sound Systems NOTE: I have not tested these, so beware!

 Edirol UA-1ex (USB 2.0)  24 bit, 96kHz (half duplex)/48kHz (full duplex)  Small, USB-powered, perfect for laptops  Under US$80  M-Audio Transit (USB 2.0)  24-bit resolution, 96kHz sample rate, 100dB S/N  Small USB-powered, perfect for laptops  Under US$80 © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Sound Card Examples

M-Audio Transit http://www.m-audio.com

What Does the Future Hold?

 Spectrum Analyzers, Test Equipment  Self Calibration (software calibrates hardware)  Steerable radio/antenna hybrid arrays  True Diversity Reception (coherent?)  Diversity Transmission  Remote Control Most of these, if not all, are

already

here!

Software Defined Antenna???

Remember this picture?

To listen to this SDR, you need:     

radio

antenna

fancy sound card

high powered software Just a PC with a browser Location: The Netherlands, grid JO32KF Frequencies: 3576 - 3624 kHz and 7031.5 – 7079.5 kHz URL: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ (find it fast: Google “WebSDR”) © 2008 Scott Cowling WA2DFI

Software Defined Antenna???

Hands-On Software Defined Radio

Thank you for your attention!

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