EE 4240 - Software-Defined Radio

2 lecture hours 2 lab hours 3 credits

Course Description
This course introduces students to fundamental topics involving software-defined radio and their application to modern wireless systems. Software-defined radios provide a flexible hardware platform in which a wide range of wireless systems can be prototyped and implemented in software. Course topics include an overview of transceiver architectures, underlying analog and digital subsystems, and digital signal processing algorithms typically used in software-defined radios. Hands-on laboratory experiences will utilize modern software radio hardware and will examine solutions to practical issues that impact the feasibility and performance a wireless digital communication system. At the conclusion of the course, students will have constructed a fully functional software-based digital transceiver. (prereq: EE 3221, EE 4022)

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Identify the architecture of a modern software-defined radio system
Explain the advantages, limitations, and design trade-offs of the underlying analog and digital subsystems of a software-defined radio
Perform link budget calculations for a software defined radio system given parameters of the communication link
Analyze communication signals and systems using I/Q and complex-baseband models
Explain the design challenges associated with building digital wireless communication links
Implement the optimum receiver structure for digital transmission through an additive white Gaussian noise channel
Implement software-based solutions for non-ideal phenomena impacting digital wireless communication systems such as multi-path propagation, synchronization, and channel equalization
Implement an end-to-end wireless data transceiver capable of performing over-the-air digital transmission

Prerequisites by Topic

Linear-Time Invariant system analysis
Fourier transforms
Sampling theorem, sampled spectra, and aliasing
Amplitude, frequency and phase modulation
Basic digital communications
Students should be comfortable with MATLAB/Simulink

Course Topics

Introduction to software-defined radio
SDR system architectures
Multi-rate signal processing
Link budgets for digital communication systems
Elements of a digital communication transceiver
Non-ideal effects and software-based solutions

Laboratory Topics

SDR hardware and software support package installation
I/Q signaling and complex-baseband
Efficient downconversion and sampling rate conversion
Signal to noise ratio, spectrum plots, link budget
Channel fading
Carrier recovery
Pulse shaping, eye diagrams, matched ltering
Fully functional digital transceiver

Coordinator
Dr. Cory J. Prust

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EE 4240 - Software-Defined Radio