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New Technologies for Software Defined Radio

Farris Alhorr

National Instruments

Business Development Manager, IndRAAFarris.alhorr@ni.com

The World of Converged Devices

More capability defined in software

Functions change rapidly

Increasingly complex to design and test

Systems are Evolving

Smart, Connected Product

Smart Product

Product Component

System of SystemsProduct System

FlightAirport

Hyper Connected Everything

Data rate

Capacity

Power Consumption

Coexistence

Security

Monitoring

SDRs Can Shorten the Transition from Design to Deploy

Design Prototype Deploy

SDR Technology Solves a Wide Range of Applications

Signal Intelligence

Target Emulation

Spectrum Monitoring and Policy

Satellite Earth Station Monitoring

Rx

Communication Protocol Design

Rx

RADAR Prototyping

Software Defined Radio Architecture

CPU

GPP

FPGA

DSP

D/A

D/A

A/D

A/D

VCO

PLL

VCO

PLL

90

0

90

0

Host ConnectionDetermines Streaming Bandwidth

Ex. Gigabit E-net, PCIe

Multi-Processor SubsystemReal-time signal processor

▪ Physical Layer (PHY)

▪ ex FPGA, DSP

Host processor

▪ Medium Access Control (MAC)

– Rx/Tx control

▪ ex. Host GPP, multi-core CPU

Baseband

Converters

RF Front End• General Purpose RF

• Dual LOs

• Contiguous Frequency

Range

Windows MacOS LinuxEmbedded

Linux

Application

LabVIEW Custom(C++, etc.)

GNURadi

oPython / GRC

The

Mathworks

™

USRP Radios

RF Board

(UBX)

UHD Driver/RFNoCPortability Across Hardware, Interface, OS, and Dev.

Environment

HardwareMotherboard

(FPGA, host connection)

RF board

Antenna

Antenna

VERT400

LTE/WiFi

Application

Frameworks

Open Source

LTE Stacks

Comms

System

Toolbox

System Architecture

ni.com

SDR Hardware for Prototyping and Deployment

ATCA-3671

Massive BB

Processing

Solutions from Highly-Portable to High-performance

USRP e310

56 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

B200 mini

56 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

VST

200 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

VSA

765 MHz BW

26.5 GHz Fc

mmWave

2 GHz BW

76 GHz Fc

Very Wide Bandwidth

Deployment – SWAP optimized

USRP 2901

56 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

Host based (USB)

desktop SDR

USRP RIO

160 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

FlexRIO

200 MHz BW

4.4 GHz Fc

Large FPGA SDRs

Multi-FPGA Platform High performance

connectivity And Inline processing

NI USRP-2901 & B210 Overview

Features

▪ Low Cost all-in-one solution

▪ Frequency Range: 70MHz – 6GHz

▪ 50-100mW output power

▪ Up to 56MHz RF Bandwidth

▪ USB 3.0 for communication & power

▪ Optional GPSDO

▪ 12 bit ADC & DAC

▪ 1x1 or 2x2 options

▪ Full Duplex

▪ Coherent operation

Currentl

y

Support

ed

LabVIEW

Communications

USRP RIO – High Performance FPGA programmable 2x2 SDR

Features

▪ 2x2 MIMO or independent LO’s

▪ 10MHz – 6GHz

▪ Xilinx Kintex 7 410T FPGA

▪ 160 MHz BW / channel

▪ Optimized RF Performance

▪ Expandable up to 128 channels with phase

coherency

▪ Flexible clocking architecture

▪ Configurable sample clock

▪ Optional GPS-disciplined OCXO

▪ Coherent operation with 10 MHz/1 PPS

Front

Back

Currentl

y

Support

ed

LabVIEW

Communications

Low-cost Superheterodyne 4-Channel Receiver – USRP-2945/55

Key Specifications:

▪ Superhetrodyne receiver

▪ 10MHz – 6GHz

▪ 80 MHz BW / channel

▪ 4 channels

▪ Xilinx Kintex 7 410T FPGA

▪ 8 Preselect filters

▪ Residual spurs < -80 dBm

▪ Optional GPSDO

DIRECTION FINDING SIGINT/COMINTSPECTRUM MONITORING

Position Detection andLocalization using TwinRX

▪ LabVIEW MUSIC Algorithm with NI USRP-2945

▪ GNU Radio MUSIC Algorithm with X310 + 2 x TwinRX

<timeframe>

Currently

SupportedLabVIEW

Communications

The NI MIMO Platform for Phased Arrays

The world’s first real-time Massive MIMO testbed with software

reference design and hardware that scales from 4-128 antennas.

▪ Real-time over-the-air transmission

▪ 50 MHz – 6 GHz

▪ 20 MHz bandwidth TDD UL & DL

▪ Scalable number of channels from 4 – 128

▪ Fully reconfigurable frame structure

▪ 128x128 MMSE, ZF, and MRC MIMO decoder FPGA IP

▪ Supports QAM, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, 256 QAM

▪ Channel reciprocity compensation per RF channel

▪ Open loop power control

▪ Over the air synchronization & calibration

Featuring the MIMO Application Framework

16 Channel

Mini-Massive MIMO System

Hardware Architecture:

Scalable from 16 to 128 Antennas @ 20 MHz

NI PCIe Switch Boxes for Data

NI Octoclocks for Clocking

…Laptops + USRP RIO

As Emulators

FPGAs for

MIMO Co-processing

Centralized

MIMO Processing

PXI Platform for High Performance SDR Systems

User Interface

Vector Signal

Transceiver

Vector Signal

Generator

FPGAs for inline

signal processing

Digital I/O RAID storage

Vector Signal

Analyzer

RF Switches

Multi-core CPU

Key Specifications of NI’s 2nd Generation VST

Output Power up to +20 dBm

High speed serial interface

(12 Gbps, 4 Tx/Rx Lanes)

60 MHz, 8 port high-speed

parallel digital interface

Only 2 PXI Slots!!

Powerful LabVIEW-Programmable Virtex-7 FPGA6.0 GHz* VSG with up to

1 GHz Instantaneous BW

6.0* GHz VSA with up to

1 GHz Instantaneous BW

Up to -50 dB 802.11ax EVM

*Denotes center frequency - band edge to 6.5 GHz)LabVIEW

Communications

LabVIEW

Communications

NI Platform For mmWave Prototyping

The world’s first 2 GHz bandwidth mmWave SDR

Applications

▪ RADAR

▪ Channel Sounding

Capabilities

▪ 27.5 – 29.5 GHz

▪ or 71 – 76 GHz

▪ 2 GHz Bandwidth

▪ IF option

▪ SISO or MIMO

▪ Real-time, over-the-air 2-way communication

Q2 2016

ATCA-3671 Multi-FPGAHigh Bandwidth System▪ 4 Virtex-7 690T FPGAs

▪ 14,400 total DSP slices

▪ 64 GB DDR3 DRAM

▪ Cabled PCI Express Gen. 3 x8 connectivity to each FPGA

▪ Up to 161.6 GB/s high-speed serial connectivity through RTM and AIO

▪ 4 ATCA IO (AIO) module slots

▪ Up to 5.6 GS/s analog I/O

LabVIEW

Communications

BEEcube Platform

Studio (BPS)

Massive DSP & Data Aggregation

with the ATCA-3671

ATCA-3671 FPGA Module

▪ 4 Virtex-7 690T FPGAs

▪ Up to 160 GB/s external serial connectivity

▪ Programmable through LabVIEW FPGA or Xilinx tools

▪ Ideal for aggregating & processing data in systemswith high channel counts or high bandwidth/channel

Data movement via high-speed serial or peer-to-peer

Process multi-GHz phase coherent data from multiple PXI SDRs Aggregate data from dozens of USRP-RIOs

x16

ATCA-3671

SWAP Optimized for Deployment

▪ 70MHz - 6GHz

▪ USB 3 for communication & power

▪ 2x2 MIMO

▪ 30 MHz BW / channel

▪ Extended temperature options

▪ Options GPSDO

▪ -40 to 75C operation

USRP E-Series USRP E-SeriesUSRP B200Mini

▪ 70MHz - 6GHz

▪ Embedded CPU & FPGA

▪ Linux OS

▪ 2x2 MIMO

▪ 30 MHz BW / channel

▪ Battery option

▪ Rugged

<timeframe>

Currently

SupportedLabVIEW

Communications

▪ 70MHz - 6GHz

▪ Embedded CPU & FPGA

▪ Linux OS

▪ 2x2 MIMO

▪ 30 MHz BW / channel

▪ IP67 Enclosure

▪ -40 to +71C operation

ni.com

-Dr. Paulo Marques, COGEU

“ LabVIEW software and the NI USRP hardware are key components of this research project, allowing

the team to rapidly prototype and successfully deploy the first cognitive radio test bed of this kind.”

Signal Classification,

Spectrum Sensing

LabVIEW Graphical System Design

Spectral sensing with blind detection

GPS geographic localization

Adaptive spectrum utilization

RECORD ANALYZE SIMULATE

1.Record and store up to 160 MHz of real signals

and impairments.

2.Play back and analyze

real-world spectrum for repeatable results.

3.Simulate all GNSS satellites

to test corner cases and future events.

Averna RP-6100 A Complete Validation Solution

for GNSS Receivers

Passive RADAR

Transceiver for Satellite Downlink

• Passive RADAR: DVB-T, UMTS

• Tow USRP N210s in MIMO Config.

• Tracking of ships and other vehicles

“Unlike other off-the-shelf options, the USRP

family represents a complete and versatile

solution with software support that accelerates

development.”

Amerigo Capria, Lead Researcher

Satellite Communication: ISEE-3 Rebooted After 36 Years

Launch: Aug 12, 1978

Contact: May 29, 2014Source: spacecollege.org

▪ Three year competition to use spectrum effectively and efficiently

using intelligent radio techniques.

▪ 256ch x 256ch Emulator with 128 Ettus USRPs and 16 BEECube

ATCA-3671s: COLOSSEUM

▪ 256ch Challenger Stations with 128 Ettus Research USRPs

▪ Driver and driver API development to ensure ease of use and

flexibility for competition and challenge phases.

▪ Ettus Research directly referenced in DARPA SC2 competition spec.

Customer: DARPA via JHUAPL and TEVET LLC

System: Massive Channel Emulator and Challenger

stations

Key Differentiators: Success with a previous DARPA RF

challenge. Low cost per channel and single source supply of

RF and processing.

DARPA GRAND CHALLENGE SC2

For Embedded

Applications

Vivado Tools

Vivado Tools

A Broad SDR Hardware Portfolio

RF

Pe

rfo

rmance

Price

For Embedded

Applications

GNU / RFNoC

USRP e310

56 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

GNU

LabVIEW Host

USRP 2900

56 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

GNU / RFNoC

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

USRP RIO

160 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

FlexRIO

200 MHz BW

4.4 GHz Fc

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

VST

200 MHz BW

6 GHz Fc

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

VSA

765 MHz BW

26.5 GHz Fc

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

mmWave

2 GHz BW

76 GHz Fc

LabVIEW Host

LabVIEW FPGA

BEEcube

Massive BB

Processing

Covering the Full SDR Spectrum

LabVIEW includes LabVIEW FPGA, LabVIEW/RT and LabVIEW for Communications