Computer Science Seminar Series
Software Defined Radio Using GNU Radio
3:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Weir Hall, Room 235
John N. Daigle
University of Mississippi
Abstract:
GNU Radio is a collection of signal processing software that facilitates
learning about, building, and deploying software defined radios (SDR).
Coupled with this software collection is a (hardware) digital
acquisition system , generally referred to as the Universal Software
Radio Peripheral (USRP), and a collection of transmitter, receiver, and
transceiver daughter boards that function in various frequency bands.
The combination the GNU radio signal processing software and the USRP
and its daughter boards facilitate the development and deployment of
SDRs. Such a radio, may, for example, provide the air interface for a
node in a wireless data communications network.
The idea of SDR is to push as much of the system into software as
possible. In the GNU Radio system, the software part of the radio is
achieved as a series of signal processing blocks, each block having a
specific purpose and a well-defined interface. In principle, an SDR can
be realized by simply developing a block diagram for a system,
identifying the appropriate signal processing blocks, and then
connecting blocks together with the appropriate parameter settings.
In concept the process is very simple. But, it sounds too good to be
true and it is. The problem is that it is, first of all, non-trivial to
design the block diagram for a robust system. Secondly, it is
non-trivial to match up the signal processing blocks of the GNU Radio
system with the block diagram. But, in addition, the critical signal
processing blocks may not be available and will have to be developed.
The objective of this talk is to introduce the GNU Radio system as a
development paradigm for software defined radio. Both the hardware and
the software will be described and demonstrated. In addition, the
process of developing signal processing blocks will be described.
Dr. Daigle is a Professor in the UM Department of Electrical
Engineering and Director of the Center for Wireless Communications. His
research interests include networking for sensor-centric manufacturing,
ad-hoc networks, protocols for RFID tag systems, and wireless cellular
data communications. Dr. Daigle is a Fellow of the IEEE.