Studies in Software-Defined Radio System Implementation

Over the past decade, software-defined radios (SDRs) have an increasingly prevalent aspect of wireless communication systems. Different than traditional hardware radios which implement radio protocols using static electrical circuit, SDRs implement significant aspects of physical radio protocol using software programs running on a host processor. Because they use software to implement most of the radio functionality, SDRs are much more easily modified, edited, and upgraded than their hardware-defined counterparts. Consequently, researchers and developers have been developing previously hardware-defined radio systems within software. Thus, communication standards can be tested under different conditions or swapped out entirely by simply changing some code. Additionally, developers hope to implement more advanced functionality with SDRs such as cognitive radios that can sense the conditions of the environment and change parameters or protocol accordingly. This paper will outline the major aspects of SDRs including their explanation, advantages, and architecture. As SDRs have become more commonplace, many companies and organizations have developed hardware front-ends and software packages to help develop software radios. The most prominent hardware front-ends to date have been the USRP hardware boards. Additionally, many software packages exist for SDR development, including the open source GNU Radio and OSSIE and the closed source Simulink and Labview SDR packages. Using these development tools, researchers have developed many of the most relevant radio standards. This paper will explain the major hardware and software development tools for creating SDRs, and it will explain some of the most important SDR projects that have been implemented to date

Hybrid optical fiber-wireless communication to support tactile internet

5G technologies are systems that will set to change the way people, devices and machines connect. This generation of mobile services provide connection in just one click. The advanced 5G infrastructure, defined as “ubiquitous ultra-broadband network supporting future Internet”, represents a revolution in the telecommunications field. It will enable new secure and reliable services to everyone and everything with ultra-low latency. “Full Immersive Experience”, enriched by “Context Information” and “Anything as a Service” are the main drivers for a substantial adoption of the fifth generation networks [1]. The technical challenges that must be taken into account in the design of the 5G system are many and unprecedented. Therefore,5G is expected to be about 10 times faster than LTE-4G, in addition, it is projected that this network will have100-1000 times higher system capacity, user data rates in the order of Gbps everywhere, 10-100 higher number of connected devices per area, latency in the order of 1 millisecond, and 10 times longer battery life for devices. Due to all these technological changes, for years, researchers, suppliers and manufacturers around the world have studied this new network. In order to transform the user's wireless experience and be able to offer fast generalized connectivity anytime, anywhere, to any device.[2]. All this requires an enabler in the new approach of radio access networks, which could be hybrid optical Fiber-Wireless communications. “Photonics technology has been recognized by the European Union as a Key Enabling Technology (KET), which is a technology that enables a market, many times larger than the market of technology itself”. Photonic techniques have become key enablers to unlock future broadband wireless communications with terabit data rates in order to support the current trends of mobile data traffic[3]. The aim of this thesis is to conceive experimentally and validate 1 millisecond latency hybrid optical Fiber-Wireless access links support for tactile Internet taking into account the system requirements. For this purpose, first a review about the implementation of high-speed data links at 75-110 GHz band with low latency was made. Likewise, this work summarizes the components of hybrid optical Fiber-Wireless communication in W- Band. Second, measurements of the delay contribution from individual elements in the W -Band hybrid system were made. In addition, the main contribution was to develop a procedure for measuring latency physically using software defined radio (SDR) and estimating the overall system latency. In this procedure, potential sources of delay can be identified in current high-data-rate hybrid optical-RF communication systems. After knowing how to measure latency in a hybrid optical Fiber-Wireless system, the following objectives were developed: to test an appropriate multiplexing scheme such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM), to achieve the lowest latency with improved performance; and to implement WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) to achieve the required low latency.Resumen: Las tecnologías 5G son sistemas de generación de servicios móviles configurados para cambiar la forma en que las personas, los dispositivos y las máquinas se conectan. La infraestructura 5G está definida como una red ubicua de banda ultra-ancha que soportará Internet en el futuro, dicha red representa una revolución en el campo de las telecomunicaciones. Permitirá eficientemente nuevos servicios ultra-confiables, rápidos y seguros, preservando la privacidad y acelerando los servicios críticos para todos y para cada cosa. Estas redes son la evolución del Internet de las cosas, en donde cada una de ellas es tratada como un objeto cognitivo formando sistemas cibernéticos (CPS). La "experiencia de inmersión total", enriquecida con "información de contexto" y "todo como un servicio" son los principales impulsores para una adopción masiva de los nuevos componentes de ésta tecnología y su aceptación del mercado [1]. Se espera que 5G sea aproximadamente 10 veces más rápido que 4G LTE. Por lo tanto, los desafíos técnicos que deben abordarse en el diseño del sistema 5G son muchos y sin precedentes. Actualmente hay varias actividades en todo el mundo para capturar las aplicaciones y los requisitos para 5G, algunas empresas proveedoras de servicio y fabricantes incluso ya han realizado pruebas para la implementación de dichas redes. Algunos de los principales requisitos que demandan estas redes se pueden resumir en: 100-1000 veces más capacidad del sistema, tasas de datos de usuario en el orden de Gbps en todas partes, latencia en el orden de 1 milisegundo, 10-100 veces mayor número de dispositivos conectados por área, 10 veces más duración de la batería para dispositivos. Estos requisitos transformarán dramáticamente la experiencia inalámbrica de un usuario en un sistema 5G al ofrecer conectividad generalizada rápida en cualquier momento, en cualquier lugar, a cualquier dispositivo [2]. Todo esto requiere un habilitador en el nuevo enfoque de las redes de acceso por radio, que podrían ser comunicaciones híbridas de fibra óptica y transmisiones inalámbricas vía radio. La fotónica por su parte ha sido reconocida por la Unión Europea como una Tecnología Clave Habilitadora (KET), una tecnología que permite un mercado que es muchas veces más grande que el mercado de la tecnología en sí. Las técnicas fotónicas combinadas con la generación de microondas en lo que se conoce en su término en inglés como microwave-photonics se han convertido en habilitadores clave para desbloquear futuras comunicaciones inalámbricas de banda ancha con tasas de datos de terabit a fin de soportar las tendencias actuales del tráfico de datos móviles [3]. El objetivo de esta tesis es concebir experimentalmente y validar enlaces de acceso híbridos de fibra óptica-radio, cuya latencia sea de 1 milisegundo con el fin de soportar Internet táctil, el cual es una aplicación de 5G, teniendo en cuenta los requisitos del sistema. Para ello, primero se realizó una investigación sobre la implementación de enlaces de datos con redes híbridas fibra óptica-radio en la banda de 75-110 GHz con baja latencia. Con esto, se analizaron los componentes de la comunicación híbrida fibra ópticaradio en la banda W. En segundo lugar, se realizaron mediciones de los retardos que se generan en cada uno de los elementos en el sistema híbrido de banda W, haciendo la estimación de la latencia general del sistema e identificando fuentes potenciales de demora en los sistemas híbridos de comunicación óptica-RF de alta velocidad de datos. La principal contribución de este trabajo fue el desarrollo de un procedimiento para medir la latencia utilizando radio definida por software (SDR), además de introducir estos sistemas en los enlaces híbridos fibra óptica-radio. Una vez conocido como medir la latencia en un sistema híbrido de fibra óptica-radio, los siguientes objetivos que se desarrollaron fueron: probar un esquema de multiplexación apropiado, como la multiplexación por división de frecuencia ortogonal (OFDM) y la multiplexación por división de frecuencia generalizada (GFDM), para lograr una latencia más baja. A su vez, implementar Multiplexación por división de longitud de onda (WDM) para conocer la latencia y la confiabilidad en cuanto a tasa de error de bits variando la multiplexacion eléctrica y óptica.Doctorad

Latency Analysis in GNU Radio/USRP-based Software Radio Platforms

Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is a promising radio technology that implements radio communication functionalities in software instead of hardware. Advantages of a SDR system are reconfigurability and flexibility whereas disadvantages are low throughput and high latency. Our research focuses on analyzing and measuring latency of a SDR system based on GNU Radio with three versions of Universal Software Radio Peripherals (USRP) devices - USRP1, USRP2 and USRP E100. This research identifies the sources of the latency and quantifies them by using both analytical and experimental methods. For the analysis, we identify all types of buffers in the SDR platforms and estimate the time that these buffers contribute. The corresponding results are compared with experimental measurement, which estimates the round-trip time between two SDR systems. This can be done by using TUN/TAP components and GNU Radio tunnel program. Alternatively, we also propose a method called hwlatency to measure the latency in hardware side. We believe this study offers the better understanding of the latency in SDR platforms and will lead to correct implementations of high-level network protocols for SDR systems

Latency Analysis in GNU Radio/USRP-based Software Radio Platforms

Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is a promising radio technology that implements radio communication functionalities in software instead of hardware. Advantages of a SDR system are reconfigurability and flexibility whereas disadvantages are low throughput and high latency. Our research focuses on analyzing and measuring latency of a SDR system based on GNU Radio with three versions of Universal Software Radio Peripherals (USRP) devices - USRP1, USRP2 and USRP E100. This research identifies the sources of the latency and quantifies them by using both analytical and experimental methods. For the analysis, we identify all types of buffers in the SDR platforms and estimate the time that these buffers contribute. The corresponding results are compared with experimental measurement, which estimates the round-trip time between two SDR systems. This can be done by using TUN/TAP components and GNU Radio tunnel program. Alternatively, we also propose a method called hwlatency to measure the latency in hardware side. We believe this study offers the better understanding of the latency in SDR platforms and will lead to correct implementations of high-level network protocols for SDR systems

Internet of Things and Sensors Networks in 5G Wireless Communications

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Internet of Things and Sensors Networks in 5G Wireless Communications that was published in Sensors

Internet of Things and Sensors Networks in 5G Wireless Communications

The Internet of Things (IoT) has attracted much attention from society, industry and academia as a promising technology that can enhance day to day activities, and the creation of new business models, products and services, and serve as a broad source of research topics and ideas. A future digital society is envisioned, composed of numerous wireless connected sensors and devices. Driven by huge demand, the massive IoT (mIoT) or massive machine type communication (mMTC) has been identified as one of the three main communication scenarios for 5G. In addition to connectivity, computing and storage and data management are also long-standing issues for low-cost devices and sensors. The book is a collection of outstanding technical research and industrial papers covering new research results, with a wide range of features within the 5G-and-beyond framework. It provides a range of discussions of the major research challenges and achievements within this topic

Internet of Things and Sensors Networks in 5G Wireless Communications

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Internet of Things and Sensors Networks in 5G Wireless Communications that was published in Sensors