Direct sampling software define radio

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

For last century we have been using super heterodyne design it have been tried and
perfected over the years but now receiver system designers are seeing a change from the widely
adopted Superheterodyne architecture to a direct RF-sampling approach. In a direct RF-sampling
architecture, the data converter digitizes a large chunk of frequency spectrum directly at RF and
hands it off to a signal processor to dissect the available information.

A new class of direct RF-sampling ADCs is being designed in advanced CMOS

processes that allow much higher conversion rates with lower power than some previous
generations. Furthermore, this design approach also enables more digital integration, which is
used for a low-power, multi-gigabit serial interface and on-chip digital-down conversion (DDC).
Combined, they make for a very size- and power-efficient digital interconnect between the data
converter and digital processor. Because data is in digital format a simple software updation can
change entire behavior of the radio

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CHAPTER 2

HISTORY

Radio is indebted to two other discoveries for its birth- telephone and telegraph. These three
technologies are very closely related. Radio started as wireless telegraphy. And it all began with
invention of radio waves, which have capacity to send out speech, music, picture and all other data
through air. A range of devices like radio, cordless phones, microwave TV broadcasts work with
the help of electromagnetic waves..

During 1860s, James Maxwell, a Scottish physicist forecasted presence of radio waves. And in
year 1886, Heinrich Hertz showcased projection of swift variation of the electric current into space
in form of radio waves.

Twenty years after invention of telephone, music was set down on telephone line and Guglielmo
Marconi was responsible for the radio signals. This Italian discoverer demonstrated radio
communication’s feasibility. Fascinated by Hertz’s discovery of the radio waves, he realized that
it could be used for receiving and sending the telegraph messages, referring to it as wireless
telegraphs.

1906 De Forest invents the triode - In the USA de Forest, replicated Fleming's diode and went a
stage further by adding an additional element to give a device he called and Audion. Although de
Forest applied for several patents in the years between 1905 and 1907, the invention of the triode
is normally taken to be 1906. Initially the triode was only used as a detector. Its operation was not
understood, and this prevented its full potential from being utilised.

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1918 Armstrong invents the superhet - Although thermionic valves (tubes) enabled far greater
performance to be gained in radio receivers, the performance of the devices was still very poor and
receivers of the day suffered from insensitivity and poor selectivity. During the First World War a
considerable amount of effort was devoted into resolving these problems. An intermediate solution
was developed by a Frenchman named Lucien Levy, but in 1918, Edwin Armstrong developed a
receiver where the incoming signal was converted down to a fixed intermediate frequency.

CHAPTER 3

SUPERHETERODYNE

The superhet radio or to give it its full name the superheterodyne receiver is one of the most
popular forms of receiver in use today in a variety of applications from broadcast receivers to
two way radio communications links as well as many mobile radio communications systems.

Although other forms of radio receiver are used, the superheterodyne receiver is one of the most
widely used forms. Although initially developed in the early days of radio, or wireless
technology, the superhet or superheterodyne receiver offers significant advantages in many
applications. Naturally the basic concept has been developed since its early days, and more
complicated and sophisticated versions are used, but the basic concept still remains the same

3.1 MIXING IN SUPERHETRODYNE RECEIVER

The idea of the superheterodyne receiver revolves around the process of mixing. Here RF mixers
are used to multiply two signals together. (This is not the same as mixers used in audio desks
where the signals are added together). When two signals are multiplied together the output is the
product of the instantaneous level of the signal at one input and the instantaneous level of the

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signal at the other input. It is found that the output contains signals at frequencies other than the
two input frequencies. New signals are seen at frequencies that are the sum and difference of the
two input signals, i.e. if the two input frequencies are f1 and f2, then new signals are seen at
frequencies of (f1+f2) and (f1-f2). To take an example, if two signals, one at a frequency of 5
MHz and another at a frequency of 6 MHz are mixed together then new signals at frequencies of
11 MHz and 1 MHz are generated.

In the superhet radio, the received signal enters one inputs of the mixer. A locally generated
signal (local oscillator signal) is fed into the other. The result is that new signals are generated.
These are applied to a fixed frequency intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier and filter. Any
signals that are converted down and then fall within the pass-band of the IF amplifier will be
amplified and passed on to the next stages. Those that fall outside the pass-band of the IF are
rejected. Tuning is accomplished very simply by varying the frequency of the local oscillator.
The advantage of this process is that very selective fixed frequency filters can be used and these
far out perform any variable frequency ones. They are also normally at a lower frequency than
the incoming signal and again this enables their performance to be better and less costly

Figure 3.1 Frequency Response of superheterodyne

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To see how this operates in reality take the example of two signals, one at 6 MHz and another at
6.1 MHz. Also take the example of an IF situated at 1 MHz. If the local oscillator is set to 5
MHz, then the two signals generated by the mixer as a result of the 6 MHz signal fall at 1 MHz
and 11 MHz. Naturally the 11 MHz signal is rejected, but the one at 1 MHz passes through the
IF stages. The signal at 6.1 MHz produces a signal at 1.1 MHz (and 11.1 MHz) and this falls
outside bandwidth of the IF so the only signal to pass through the IF is that from the signal on 6
MHz.

Figure 3.1 Mixing stage of superheterodyne

3.2 IMAGE RESPONSES

The basic concept of the superheterodyne receiver appears to be fine, but there is a problem.
There are two signals that can enter the IF. With the local oscillator set to 5 MHz and with an IF
it has already been seen that a signal at 6 MHz mixes with the local oscillator to produce a signal
at 1 MHz that will pass through the IF filter. However if a signal at 4 MHz enters the mixer it
produces two mix products, namely one at the sum frequency which is 10 MHz, whilst the
difference frequency appears at 1 MHz. This would prove to be a problem because it is perfectly

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possible for two signals on completely different frequencies to enter the IF. The unwanted
frequency is known as the image. Fortunately it is possible to place a tuned circuit before the
mixer to prevent the signal entering the mixer, or more correctly reduce its level to an acceptable
value.

Fortunately this tuned circuit does not need to be very sharp. It does not need to reject signals on
adjacent channels, but instead it needs to reject signals on the image frequency. These will be
separated from the wanted channel by a frequency equal to twice the IF. In other words with an
IF at 1 MHz, the image will be 2 MHz away from the wanted frequency.

Figure 3.2 Image responses

While radio communications technology has advanced enormously since the first introduction of
the superheterodyne radio receiver, it is still very widely used for many radio communications
applications.

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CHAPTER 4

SOFTWARE DEFINE RADIO

A good 3D calibration will not only produce accurate 3D measurements but also correct or
compensate for optical problems like optical distortion, and camera rotation. A 3D calibration is
in fact, simply mathematics applied to geometry.The overall 3D system will usually be comprised
of a standard 2D camera with dedicated 3D hardware to extract a laser line profile from the 2D
image to produce what is called a 3D profile. The 3D profile is a collection of points representing
vertical (height) depth positions.The data streaming from the camera is raw un-calibrated height
data.The data then has to be mathematically transformed into measurements such as inches or
millimeters, to produce real 3D values (or height values).

The most common way of transforming raw data coming from a 2D camera is a calibration
table or matrix. The matrix can be in the form of a Look up Table (LUT) or a mathematical formula.
We have a choice depending on the level of precision we want.To obtain real 3D measurements,
the calibration matrix must be filled with numbers that will transform the raw profile points into
real measurements. There are several ways to fill this calibration matrix. One approach would be
to place a calibrated object in front of the camera, take some pictures and transform the raw data
into real 3D measurements by applying the principle of mathematical translation.

4.1 LEVELS OF SDR

It is not always feasible or practicable to develop a radio that incorporates all the features of a fully
software defined radio. Some radios may only support a number of features associated with SDRs,
whereas others may be fully software defined. In order to give a broad appreciation of the level at
which a radio may sit, the SDR Forum (now called the Wireless Innovation Forum, WINNF) has
defined a number of tiers. These tiers can be explained in terms of what is configurable.

 Tier 0: A non-configurable hardware radio, i.e. one that cannot be changed by software.

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 Tier 1: A software controlled radio where limited functions are controllable. These may
be power levels, interconnections, etc. but not mode or frequency.

 Tier 2: In this tier of software defined radio there is significant proportion of the radio is
software configurable. Often the term software controlled radio, SCR may be used. There
is software control of parameters including frequency, modulation and waveform
generation / detection, wide/narrow band operation, security, etc. The RF front end still
remains hardware based and non-reconfigurable.

 Tier 3: The ideal software radio or ISR where the boundary between configurable and
non-configurable elements exists very close to the antenna, and the "front end" is
configurable. It could be said to have full programmability.

 Tier 4: The ultimate software radio or USR is a stage further on from the Ideal Software
Radio, ISR. Not only does this form of software defined radio have full programmability,
but it is also able to support a broad range of functions and frequencies at the same time.
With many electronic items such as cellphones having many different radios and standards
a software definable multifunction phone would fall into this category.

Although these SDR tiers are not binding in any way, they give a way of broadly summarising the
different levels of software defined radios that may exist.

4.2 SDR HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE

Although there are many different levels of SDR and many ways in which a software defined radio
may be designed, it possible to give some generalised comments about the basic structures that are
used.

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Figure 4.2 Block diagram of SDR

Apart from the control and management software and its associated hardware, a software defined
radio (SDR) can be considered to contain a number of basic functional blocks as detailed below:

 RF Amplification: These elements are the RF amplification of the signals travelling to

and from the antenna. On the transmit side the amplifier is used to increase the level of the
RF signal to the required power to be transmitted. It is unlikely that direct conversion by
the DAC will give the required output level. On the receive side signals from the antenna
need to be amplified before passing further into the receiver. If antenna signals are directly
converted into digital signals, quantisation noise becomes an issue even f the frequency
limits are not exceeded.

 Frequency conversion: In many designs, some analogue processing may be required.

Typically this may involve converting the signal to and from the final radio frequency. In
some designs this analogue section may not be present and the signal will be converted
directly to and from the final frequency from and to the digital format. Some intermediate
frequency processing may also be present.

 Digital conversion: It is at this stage that the signal is converted between the digital and
analogue formats. This conversion is in many ways at the heart of the equipment.

When undertaking these conversions there are issues that need to be considered. On the

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receive side, the maximum frequency and number of bits to give the required quantisation
noise are of great importance. On the transmit side, the maximum frequency and the
required power level are some of the major issues.

 Baseband processor: The baseband processor is at the very centre of the software defined
radio. It performs many functions from digitally converting the incoming or outgoing
signal in frequency. These elements are known as the Digital Up Converter (DUC) for
converting the outgoing signal from the base frequency up to the required output frequency
for conversion from digital to analogue. On the receive side a Digital Down Converter
(DDC) is used to bring the signal down in frequency. The signal also needs to be filtered,
demodulated and the required data extracted for further processing.

One of the key issues of the baseband processor is the amount of processing power
required. The greater the level of processing, the higher the current consumption and in
turn this required additional cooling, etc. This may have an impact on what can be achieved
if power consumption and size are limitations. Also the format of any processing needs to
be considered - general processors, DSPs, ASICs and in particular FPGAs may be used.
FPGAs are of particular interest because they may be reconfigured to change the definition
of the radio

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CHAPTER 5
FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY

The Field Programmable Gate Array, or FPGA is a type of device that is widely used in the logic
or digital electronic circuits. FPGAs are semiconductor devices that contain programmable logic
and interconnections. The programmable logic components, or logic blocks as they are known,
may consist of anything from logic gates, through to memory elements or blocks of memories, or
almost any element

The great advantage of the FPGA is that the chip is completely programmable and can be re-
programmed. In this way it becomes a large logic circuit that can be configured according to a
design, but if changes are required it can be re-programmed with an update. Thus if circuit card or
board is manufactured and contains an FPGA as part of the circuit, this is programmed during the
manufacturing process, but can later be re-programmed to reflect any changes. Thus it is field
programmable, giving rise to its name.

Although FPGAs offer many advantages, there are naturally some disadvantages. They are slower
than equivalent ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or other equivalent ICs, and
additionally they are more expensive. (However ASICs are very expensive to develop by
comparison). This means that the choice of whether to use an FPGA based design should bemade
early in the design cycle and will depend on such items as whether the chip will need to be re-
programmed, whether equivalent functionality can be obtained elsewhere, and of course the
allowable cost. Sometimes manufacturers may opt for an FPGA design for early product when
bugs may still be found, and then use an ASIC when the design is fully stable.

FPGAs are used in many applications. In view of the cost they are not used in cheap high volume
products, but instead FPGAs find applications in a variety of areas where complex logic circuitry
may be needed, and changes may be anticipated. FPGA applications cover a wide range of areas
from equipment for video and imaging, to circuitry for aerospace and military applications, as well
as electronics for specialized processing and much more.

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5.1 FPGA ARCHITECTURE

The internal architecture of the FPGA is the key to its flexibility and hence its success. Essentially
an FPGA consists of two basic elements:

An array of Common Logic Blocks (CLB)

Routing channels

Logic block in an FPGA: The logic block in an FPGA can be implemented in variety of ways.
The actual implementation depends upon the manufacturer and also the series of FPGA being used.
The variations include the number of inputs and outputs, the general complexity of the logic block
in terms of circuitry and the number of transistors used. This naturally has an impact on the amount
of area consumed on the chip, and hence the size the silicon used.

FPGA internal routing: The routing within the FPGA comprises wires that cane be interconnected
using electrically configurable switches. In this way it is possible to link different points on the
chip together and thereby connect the different Common Logic Blocks .

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Figure 5.1 Block diagram of FPGA

5.2 FPGA DESIGN

In view of the complexity of FPGAs, software is used to design the function of an FPGA. The
FPGA design process is started by the user providing a Hardware Description Language (HDL)
definition or a schematic design.

Common HDLs are VHDL (where VHDL stands for VHSIC Hardware Description Language)
and Verilog. Once this has been completed the next task in the FPGA design process is to produce
a netlist is generated for the particular FPGA family being used. This describes the connectivity
required within the FPGA and it is generated using an electronics design automation tool.

The netlist can then be fitted to the actual FPGA architecture using a process called place-and-
route, usually performed by the FPGA company's proprietary place-and-route software.

Finally the design is committed to the FPGA and it can be used in the electronic circuit board for
which it is intended.

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CHAPTER 6
DIRECT SAMPLING IN SDR

"Direct sampling" is the technology of digitizing an RF signal with an ADC directly, without an
analog frequency conversion to a lower IF (intermediate frequency) or baseband (Zero IF) before
the signal is converted from analog to digital.

An RF sampling ADC can replace a radio signal path subsystem of mixers, LO synthesizers,
intermediate frequency amplifiers and filters, and sometimes multiple ADCs, reducing bill of
materials, cost, design time, size, weight, and power, while increasing the software
programmability and flexibility of the system.

TI's latest generation of RF sampling ADCs can digitize signals at frequencies up to ~4GHz and
at sample rates up to 4Gsps, addressing the needs of UHF/VHF/L/S-bands (IEEE) to cover a
wide array of applications such as 3G/4G/5G wireless base stations, microwave backhaul, test,
scientific, spectroscopy, military communications , radar and wideband software-defined radio
(SDR).

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Figure 6.1 Block diagram of Direct sampling radio

In the Zero IF (ZIF) transmitter , the digital complex signal at baseband is simply interpolated to
ease filtering requirements and then fed to the DACs. The complex analog output of the DACs,
still at baseband (DC), is fed to an analog quadrature modulator. The "magic" of using complex
signals is readily apparent with the ZIF architecture, as the entire modulated signal is converted to
an RF carrier at exactly the LO frequency. However, imperfections such as LO feedthrough and
asymmetries in the I and Q paths result in an LO spur and a reversed signal image that falls within
the transmitted signal. This, in turn, degrades the bit error rate of the signal. In multicarrier
transmitters, the images may be adjacent to the carriers and then in-band spurious emissions result.
Complicated digital predistortion schemes are often implemented in wireless radio transmitters to
counter these various imperfections.

Fig 6.2 Integration in modern SDR vs traditional receiver

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6.1 PERFORMANCE

The following FFT plots are proof that the performance of RF sampling ADCs is achieving high levels of
spectral purity and bandwidth. One basic performance metric of the receiver is its sensitivity, which
means what is the weakest signal power that it can successfully recover and process. Weak input signals
cannot be demodulated if the noise of the receiver within the demodulated bandwidth is larger than the
received signal itself. The noise floor of the receiver typically is expressed as a noise figure (NF) in
decibel (dB), or the difference to the absolute thermal noise normalized to 1 Hz bandwidth. The most
common way to improve an ADC’s noise figure is to add an amplifier before the ADC..

Fig 6.3 Integration in modern SDR vs traditional receiver

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CHAPTER 7
APPLICATIONS

 Radio astronomy
 Track aircraft
 Experiment with LTE
 Used as Spectrum Analyzer
 IoT gateway
 HAM radio
 Drone command and control
 And many more

CHAPTER 7

RESULTS
The advantages of SDR include reduced component cost because hardware specific
components are replaced by DSPs and FPGAs. The number of components tends to be lower. DSP
components can compensate for problems in other areas of the system. Disadvantages include
power consumption, security, and overall cost.

The key difference between traditional radios and software defined radios is that the latter
senses their environment and adapt to it. This is important particularly to government agencies
such as the FCC who is in the process of reallocating spectrum usage in the TV bands. There's a
shift away from rigid, spectrum allocations to a demand-based approach to maximum the usage in
that band.

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CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE ENHANCEMENT

CONCLUSION

 Latest generation of RF sampling ADCs can digitize signals at frequencies up to ~4GHz

and at sample rates up to 4Gsps, addressing the needs of UHF/VHF/L/S-bands (IEEE) to
cover a wide array of applications such as 3G/4G/5G wireless base stations, microwave
backhaul, test, scientific, spectroscopy, military communications , radar and wideband
software-defined radio (SDR).There is lot of frequency above 4Ghz that is yet to be
covered more researches and ongoing for development and advancement of Software
Define Radio(SDR)

CHAPTER 9

QUERIES
Q 1. What is the difference between a software-defined radio and digital radio?

A digital radio is one where at least some part of the signal processing is done digitally. The
digital signal processing could be done with any combination of fixed hardware, reconfigurable

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hardware, or software. A software defined radio is a digital radio that has some part of the signal
processing chain implemented as software or reconfigurable hardware.

Q 2. What projects can be done in software defined radio?

All sorts of things can be done with SDR. Probably the most powerful aspect of a SDR is that its
function can be changed while in use. With the same basic hardware platform, the software can
be reloaded to change modulation form, frequency, data rates (if it's a data radio), signal
bandwidth, etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Designing a modern power supply for RF sampling converters,Application note Texas
instruments 26 April 2017

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2. Theoretical Comparison of Direct-Sampling Versus Heterodyne RF Receivers,IEEE

Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers ( Volume: 63, Issue: 8, Aug.
2016 )

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