1,559 research outputs found

    Development of a Nanosatellite Software Defined Radio Communications System

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    Communications systems designed with application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology suffer from one very significant disadvantage - the integrated circuits do not possess the ability of programmability. However, Software Defined Radio’s (SDR’s) integrated with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) provide an opportunity to update the communication system on nanosatellites (which are physically difficult to access) due to their capability of performing signal processing in software. SDR signal processing is performed in software on reprogrammable elements such as FPGA’s. Applying this technique to nanosatellite communications systems will optimize the operations of the hardware, and increase the flexibility of the system. In this research a transceiver algorithm for a nanosatellite software defined radio communications is designed. The developed design is capable of modulation of data to transmit information and demodulation of data to receive information. The transceiver algorithm also works at different baud rates. The design implementation was successfully tested with FPGA-based hardware to demonstrate feasibility of the transceiver design with a hardware platform suitable for SDR implementation

    System Level Design of Software-Defined Radio Platform

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    This major qualifying project proposes a new single-board design for a Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) On Board Unit (OBU) which consists of a Zynq 7030 system on a chip and AD9361 wideband transceiver. This software-defined radio (SDR) platform design is based on ZedBoard and FMcomms2. The advantages of this approach compared to the ZedBoard and FMcomms2 joint solution are smaller form factor, front end tuned to 5.9GHz and a more powerful processor. Since the prototype has not been manufactured due to the time constraints of this project, the working implementation of 6GHz DSRC radio 802.11p in GNU Radio has been confirmed on the lower capability hardware USRP2 and USRP N210 (Universal Software Radio Peripheral)

    A Communication Monitor for Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Software Defined Radio

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    Link quality estimation of reliability-crucial wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is often limited by the observability and testability of single-chip radio transceivers. The estimation is often based on collection of packer-level statistics, including packet reception rate, or vendor-specific registers, such as CC2420's Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Link Quality Indicator (LQI). The speed or accuracy of such metrics limits the performance of reliability mechanisms built in wireless sensor networks. To improve link quality estimation in WSNs, we designed a powerful wireless communication monitor based on Software Defined Radio (SDR). We studied the relations between three implemented link quality metrics and packet reception rate under different channel conditions. Based on a comparison of the metrics' relative advantages, we proposed using a combination of them for fast and accurate estimation of a sensor network link

    Wireless sensors and IoT platform for intelligent HVAC control

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    Energy consumption of buildings (residential and non-residential) represents approximately 40% of total world electricity consumption, with half of this energy consumed by HVAC systems. Model-Based Predictive Control (MBPC) is perhaps the technique most often proposed for HVAC control, since it offers an enormous potential for energy savings. Despite the large number of papers on this topic during the last few years, there are only a few reported applications of the use of MBPC for existing buildings, under normal occupancy conditions and, to the best of our knowledge, no commercial solution yet. A marketable solution has been recently presented by the authors, coined the IMBPC HVAC system. This paper describes the design, prototyping and validation of two components of this integrated system, the Self-Powered Wireless Sensors and the IOT platform developed. Results for the use of IMBPC in a real building under normal occupation demonstrate savings in the electricity bill while maintaining thermal comfort during the whole occupation schedule.QREN SIDT [38798]; Portuguese Foundation for Science & Technology, through IDMEC, under LAETA [ID/EMS/50022/2013

    Software-defined radio using LabVIEW and the PC sound card: A teaching platform for digital communications

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    Different modulation techniques and protocols require a standard communications laboratory for engineering courses to be equipped with a broad set of equipment, tools and accessories. However, the high costs involved in a hardware-based laboratory can become prohibitively expensive for many institutions. Software simulations alone can replicate most real-world applications with much lower costs. Nevertheless, they do not replace the real-world feeling provided by hardware-based systems, which can produce and receive physical signals to and from the exterior media. Advances in computer technology are allowing software-defined radio (SDR) concepts to be applied in many areas of communications. In this type of system, the baseband processing is performed completely in software while an analog RF front end hardware can be used for RF processing. The use of a software-defined radio platform in a digital communications laboratory can offer the benefits of software simulations coupled with the enthusiasm presented by hardware-based systems. A low-cost software-defined radio teaching platform implemented in LabVIEW using the personal computer sound card was developed for a digital communications laboratory along with a set of exercises to help students assimilate the concepts involved in communications theory and system implementation. This system allows for the generation, reception, processing, and analysis of signals in a 4 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) transceiver using the personal computer sound card to transmit and receive modulated signals. This teaching platform provides the means necessary to explore the theoretical concepts of digital communication systems in a laboratory environment. National Instruments\u27 LabVIEW graphical programming environment allows a more intuitive way of coding, which helps students to spend more time learning the relevant theory concepts and less time coding the applications. Being a flexible and modular system, modifications can be made for optimization and use with different and/or more complex techniques

    Portable Waveform Development for Software Defined Radios

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    This work focuses on the question: "How can we build waveforms that can be moved from one platform to another?\u27\u27 Therefore an approach based on the Model Driven Architecture was evaluated. Furthermore, a proof of concept is given with the port of a TETRA waveform from a USRP platform to an SFF SDR platform

    On the implementation of distributed asynchronous non-linear kernel methods over wireless sensor networks

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    In this paper, we face the implementation of a non-linear kernel method for regression on a wireless sensor network (WSN) based on MICAz motes. The operating system used is TinyOS 2.1.1. The algorithm estimates the value of some magnitude from the measurements of the motes in a distributed approach where information and computations are performed asynchronously. This proposal includes a research on the potential problems encountered along with the developed solutions. Namely, matrix and floating computations, acknowledgement mechanisms and data loss.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Consolider-Ingenio CSD2008-00010,TEC2012-38800-C03-{02} and European Union (FEDER)

    A Primer on Software Defined Radios

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    The commercial success of cellular phone systems during the late 1980s and early 1990 years heralded the wireless revolution that became apparent at the turn of the 21st century and has led the modern society to a highly interconnected world where ubiquitous connectivity and mobility are enabled by powerful wireless terminals. Software defined radio (SDR) technology has played a major role in accelerating the pace at which wireless capabilities have advanced, in particular over the past 15 years, and SDRs are now at the core of modern wireless communication systems. In this paper we give an overview of SDRs that includes a discussion of drivers and technologies that have contributed to their continuous advancement, and presents the theory needed to understand the architecture and operation of current SDRs. We also review the choices for SDR platforms and the programming options that are currently available for SDR research, development, and teaching, and present case studies illustrating SDR use. Our hope is that the paper will be useful as a reference to wireless researchers and developers working in the industry or in academic settings on further advancing and refining the capabilities of wireless systems
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