Software Defined

Radio Architecture

Reviewed by....
Navin Kumar
Member IEEE, IET(UK), IETE, IE(India)

5/26/2009 1
 Software Define Radio Architecture
• Introduction
• Architecture
• Channel Processing Stream and
Resource Requirement
• Heterogenous Multiprocessing
Hardware & Open Architecture
• Future Challenges
• Conclusion
5/26/2009 2
 What is Software Radio ?

A Software Defined Radio (SDR) system is a radio

communication system where components that
have typically been implemented in hardware (i.e.
mixers, filters, amplifiers,
modulators/demodulators, detectors. etc.) are
implemented using software on a personal
computer.
Definition by SDR Forum-
Software defined radio is used to describe
radios that provide software control of a variety of
modulation techniques, wide-band or narrow-
band operation, communications security
functions (such as hopping), and waveform
requirements of current and evolving standards
over a broad frequency range.
5/26/2009 3
 What is SDR ?.....
Joe Mitola says, "A software radio is a radio whose
channel modulation waveforms are defined in
software. That is, waveforms are generated as
sampled digital signals, converted from digital to
analog via a wideband DAC and then possibly
upconverted from IF to RF. The receiver,
similarly, employs a wideband Analog to Digital
Converter (ADC) that captures all of the channels
of the software radio node. The receiver then
extracts, downconverts and demodulates the
channel waveform using software on a general
purpose processor."

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 SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO (SDR)…
KEY IS RECONFIGURABILITY

ADC Reconfigurable DAC Reconfigurable

DAC Processing ADC RF Processing

5/26/2009 USER NETWORK 5

 Characteristics of SDR
• SDR-enabled devices (e.g., handhelds) and
equipment (e.g., wireless network infrastructure) can
be dynamically programmed in software to
reconfigure the characteristics of equipment.
• That is, the same piece of "hardware" can be
modified to perform different functions at different
times.
• This allows manufacturers to concentrate
development efforts on a common hardware platform.
• Similarly, it permits network operators to differentiate
their service offerings without having to support a
myriad number of handhelds.
• Finally, SDR provides the user with a single piece of
scalable hardware that is at once compatible at a
global scale and robust enough to deliver a "pay as
you go" feature set.
5/26/2009 6
 Motivation/Why SDR ?
Motivation of SDR
• Commercial wireless communication
industry is currently facing problems due to
constant evolution of link-layer protocol
standards (2.5G, 3G, and 4G)
• Existence of incompatible wireless network
technologies in different countries inhibiting
deployment of global roaming facilities
• Problems in rolling-out new
services/features due to wide-spread
presence of legacy subscriber handsets.

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 Why SDR ?
• Benifits -
Radios built using SDR concepts offer :

Standard architecture for a wide range of
communications products

Non-restrictive wireless roaming for consumers
by extending the capabilities of current and
emerging commercial air-interface standards

Uniform communication across commercial,
civil, federal and military organizations

Potential for significant life-cycle cost reductions

Over the air downloads of new features and
services as well as software patches

Advanced networking capabilities to allow truly
"portable" networks
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 Benifits....
• SDR is a promising technology that has
the potential to realize cost-effective,
multi-band and multi-standard telematics
products with reduced development cycle.
• How does SDR achieve these benefits ?
• As SDR-enabled devices (handhelds) and
equipment (network) can be dynamically
programmed in software to reconfigure the
characteristics of the hardware.
• This is achieved through the use of a set of
clearly defined APIs (Application Protocol
Interface) residing on top of a flexible hardware
layer.

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 One of benefits for consumers:
SDR-based Personal Area
Network
• The Personal Area Network (PAN) is based on the trends
towards increasing connectivity of personal information and
communications devices.
• The proliferation of wireless devices and cell phones,
pagers, wireless PDAs, and so forth is forcing many
consumers to carry multiple, self-contained radio devices
on their body.
• Each device has its own receiver and transmitter, its own
signal processing circuitry, and each requires a battery
large enough to operate a wide area network transceiver.
• If, however, individuals were to adopt an SDR-based PAN
architecture, they would enjoy greater connectivity among
their various information and communications devices.
• Also, those information and communications devices could
be produced in smaller, lighter, more convenient form-
factors.
• The multiple wide-area radio communications functions
5/26/2009 10
 Benifits ... (PAN)

5/26/2009 11
 What are the complexities ?
• Disadvantages and complexities-

It is difficult to engineer wideband, lowloss
antennas and RF converters.

It is also difficult to accurately estimate
processing demand of applications and
processing capacity of reprogrammable
DSP/CPU configurations.

In addition, sustaining required data rates across
interprocessor interfaces is problematic.

The frequency bands covered may still be
constrained at the front-end requiring a switch in
the antenna system.

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 Evolution of Radio Architecture

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 Evolution....
Major changes
• Channel data rate, services, continue to
increase through multiplexing, spectrum
spreading etc. as we progress.
• The complexity of functions, components and
desing rules of these archtectures continues
to increase with each generation.
• However, at the same time, the software
radio architecture simplify hardware
component tradeoffs and provide new ways
of managing the complexity of rapidly
emerging standards.

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 Block Diagram of Software Radio
System
•

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 Modern/Current Technology
Architecture
•

DUC - Digital UpConverter

CFR - Crest Factor Reduction
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DPD - Digital Pre Distortion
DDC - Digital Down Converter
 Software Architecture...

• The system uses a generic hardware platform with

programmable modules (DSPs, FPGAs, microprocessors)
and analog RF modules.
• The operating environment performs hardware resource
management activities like allocation of hardware resources
to different applications, memory management, interrupt
servicing and providing a consistent interface to hardware
5/26/2009
modules for use by applications. 17
 Software Architecture...
• In SDR system, the software modules
that implement link-layer protocols
and modulation/demodulation
operations are called radio
applications and these applications
provide link-layer services to higher
layer communication protocols such
as WAP and TCP/IP

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 Typical Components of SDR
• Analog Radio Frequency (RF) receiver/transmitter in
the 200 MHz to multi-gigahertz range.
• High-speed A/D and D/A converters to digitize a wide
portion of the spectrum at 25 to 210 M samples/sec.
• High-speed front-end signal processing including
Digital Down Conversion (DDC) consisting of one or
more chains of mix + filter + decimate or up conversion.
• Protocol-specific processing such as Wideband Code
Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) or OFDM,
including spreading/de-spreading, frequency-hop-and
chip-rate recovery, code/decode functions, including
modulation/demodulation, carrier and symbol rate
recovery, and channel interleaving/de-interleaving.
• Data communications interface with carrier networks
and backbone for data I/O and command-and-control
processing, usually handled by general purpose ARM
or PowerPC processors and Real-Time Operating
System (RTOS).
5/26/2009 19
 Architecture,
Functional model of SWR..

5/26/2009 20
@ Mitola´s STATICfaction
 Functional Description...
• A software radio:
(in transmit mode) -

characterizes the available transmission
channels,

probes the propagation path,

constructs an appropriate channel modulation,

electronically steers its transmit beam in the
right direction,

selects the appropriate power level,

then transmits.
5/26/2009 21
 Functional Description...
• (In receive mode) -

characterizes the energy distribution in the channel and in
adjacent channels,

recognizes the mode of the incoming transmission,

adaptively nulls interferers,

estimates the dynamic properties of desired-signal
multipath,

coherently combines desired-signal multipath.

adaptively equalizes this ensemble,

trellis decodes the channel modulation,

then corrects residual errors via forward error control
(FEC) decoding to receive the signal with lowest possible
BER.

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 Functional Description...
• The software radio also supports -

Incremental service enhancements through a
wide range of software tools.
Tools assist in -- analyzing the radio environment,
defining the required enhancements.

prototyping incremental enhancements via
sottware.

testing the enhancements in the radio
environment, and

delivering the service enhancements via
software and/or hardware.
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 An example, Architecture...
Mobile Cellular Base Station

5/26/2009 24
 Operation of Main Blocks
• A software radio architecture includes -
# The channel processing stream.

The real-time channel processing stream
incorporates channel coding and radio access
protocols.

Channel processing is characterized by discrete
time point-operations such as the translation of a
baseband signal to an intermediate frequency
(IF) by multiplying a time-domain baseband
waveform by a discrete reference carrier to yield
a sampled IF signal.

Since data rates requires to be very fast and
therefore pipeline multiprocessing i.e., a Multiple
Instruction Multiple Data-stream (MIMD)
5/26/2009 architecture is generally used. 25
 Operations...
• The Environment Management Stream -

The near-real-time environment management
stream continuously characterizes radio
environment usage in frequency, time and
space.

This characterization includes channel
identification and the estimation of other
parameters such as channel interference levels
(depending on the specific signaling and multiple
access scheme) and subscriber locations.

The environment management stream employs
block operations such as fast Fourier transforms
(FFTs), wavelet transforms, and matrix multiplies
for beam forming.
5/26/2009 26
 Operations...
• On-Line and Off-Line Software Tools -

On-line and off-line systems analysis, signal
processing, and rehosting tools allow one to
define incremental service enhancements such
as, an enhanced beamformer, equalizer and trellis
decoder may be needed to increase subscriber
density.

These enhancements may be prototyped and
linked into the channel processing stream,
allowing one to debug the algorithm(s), to
experiment with parameter settings, and to
determine the service value (e.g., in improved
subscriber density) and resources impact (e.g., on
processing resources, I/O bandwidth, and time
delays)
5/26/2009 27
 Operations...

Software-based enhancements may be
organized around managed objects,
collections of data and associated
executable procedures that work with
object resource brokers and conform to
related open architecture software
interface standards such as the Common
Object Resource Broker (CORBA).

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 Example, Architecture...

5/26/2009 29
 Achitecture....

5/26/2009 30
 A complete SDR Module
Entegra Module

5/26/2009 31
 The Channel
Processing Stream
• A communication model comprises source encoder, decoder,
channel encoder, decoder and related blocks.
• The standard software radio architecture partitions classical
channel coding and decoding into the channel access
segments as shown in Figure.
• Partitioning is useful-

because of the significant differences in functionality
between segments,

because of the strong cohesion among functions within a
segment;

because of large changes in bandwidth due to decimation
within a segment; and

because of the ease with which these particular segments
are mapped to affordable open-architecture hardware.

also structures the estimation of first-order resource
requirements to predict system performance.

5/26/2009 32
 Partitioning of The Channel
Processing Stream...

5/26/2009 33
 Partitioning of The Channel
Processing Stream...
• Various Segments are –

The Antenna Segment (Multiple bands, low loss, beam
formation)

The RF Conversion Segment ( Should achieve amplifier
linearity and efficiency across the access band)

The A/D/A Converters (wideband A/D/A conversion
before IF achieves:
• It enables digital signal processing before detection and
demodulation.
• It reduces the cost of mixed channel access modes by
consolidating IF and baseband processing into
programmable hardware.
• It focuses the component tradeoffs to a single central issue:
providing the computational resources (I/O bandwidth,
memory. and processing capacity) critical to each
architecture segment;subject to the size. weight. power. And
cost constraints of the application.
5/26/2009 34
 Partitioning of The Channel
Processing Stream...

The IF Processing Segment (maps the transmit and receive
signals between modulated baseband and IF, IF filtering recovers
medium band channels).

The Baseband Processing Segment (first level of channel
modulation/demodulation, pre-distortion for nonlinear
channels,Trellis coding and soft decision parameter)

The Bitstream Segment (digitally multiplexes sourcecoded
bitstreamsfrom multiple users, forward error control
(FEC),including bit interleaving and block and/or convolutional
coding and/or automatic repeat request (ARQ) detection and
response, Frame alignment, bit-stuffing, and radio link encryption,
Signaling, control and operations, administration and
maintenance (OA&M) functions

The Source Segment (In the mobile terminal; the user and the
source encoders and decoders. In the base station; the interface
to the PSTN for access to remote source coding).

End-to-End Timing Budgets (Time delays in the IF,
baseband, bitstream and source segments etc. and must be kept
within bounds of isochronism at each segment-to-segment
interface).
5/26/2009 35
 Estimating Resource
Requirements
• Good estimates of the demand for the critical resources
such as memory, bus, I/O bandwith etc. result in a well
informed mapping of the above segments to appropriate
hardware.
• Standardized Measures of Demand and Capacity may
lead to higher performance.
• Estimate Demand In The Context of The standard Data
Flow
• Facility Utilization Accurately Predicts Performance;
• The most significant design parameter of the mapping of
processing demand to processor capacity is resource
utilization (offered demand/available capacity) (of the CPU,
DSP chip, memory, bus, etc.)
• Fig (a) shows, the variation of average number of items
awaiting service at the resource as a function of utilization.
• Robust performance occurs when ρ is less than 0.5
• Fig.(b) characterizes the risk of exceeding a specified delay
through the ratio of the specified delay to the average delay
5/26/2009 (under various relationships of the mean to the variance).
36
 Estimating Resource
Requirements ...
•

5/26/2009 37
 Heterogeneous Multiprocessing
Hardware
• Segment boundaries enable building software
radios on parallel, pipelined, heterogeneous
multiprocessing hardware.
• Partitioning gives an open hardware architecture.
(Ex. Shown below)
• The VME (Virtual Machine Environment) host
serves as system control processor
• VME is the main frame operating system
• Also known as open VME, incorporating an Unix
subsystem and runs on ICL series 39.
• There are many vendors and manufacturers for
different segments and they map one another
5/26/2009 under open architecture VME modules. 38
 Heterogeneous Multiprocessing
Hardware ...

Open Component Architecture Supplies Processing

5/26/2009 39
Capacity with Affordable Technology Insertion
 Heterogeneous Multiprocessing
Hardware....

5/26/2009 Mapping of Segments to Open Architecture VME modules 40

 Heterogeneous Multiprocessing
Hardware ....
• System consists of many identical items
• The use of two or more CPU within a single
system and the ability to allocate task between
them
• Digital signal processing is a cost effective way of
signal processing
• The DSP processors support the realtime
channel processing stream, sometimes
configured as one DSP per subscriber
channel.
• The interface between analog signal and DSP
function block is implemented by A/D converter

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 Heterogeneous Multiprocessing
Hardware ...
• ADC architecture

Pipeline ADC

Flash ADC

Sub range ADC

Successive Approximation ADC

Oversampling ADC
For this application we required a higher
speed ADC

5/26/2009 42
 Architecture Tradeoffs
• All design in any discipline, involves
tradeoffs
• Design decisions are often made for
non-technical reasons
• Strategies business concerns,
meeting the constrains of cost and
schedule, using available personnel

5/26/2009 43
 Architecture Tradeoffs...

• This is to provide a principled way

to evaluate a software
architecture’s fitness with respect
to multiple competing quality
attribute

Modifiability

Security

Performance

Availability
5/26/2009 44
 Problems with Open Architecture
(Software tools)
• Open Architecture is that allows
upgrading or swapping of the
components
• But remains the problematic, because
the tool integration is far from seamless.
• Seamless is the merger of all the tools
that enable the SDR offer quality
service.
• The figure below shows the time
criticality of performance with
5/26/2009 functionality. 45
 Open Architecture...

Software Tools Span the Function Space, but Tool

5/26/2009 46
Integration is Far from Seamless
 Open Architecture...
• For example, No signal processing
environments in existence fully span
the range from hard real-time IF
processing through off-line support.
• Each tool and environment on the
market excels in one or more aspects
of the required support.

5/26/2009 47
 Economics
• This is a production, distribution and
consumption of goods and services
• A market segment
• Object management software technology
• Providing seamless communications
services we aspire to.
• With the reduction in size, power and cost
of processors, the SDR my find within
affordable acquisition and maintenance
budgets.
5/26/2009 48
 Economics...

Economics of Project Size Versus Number of Projects

5/26/2009 49
Drive Software Radio Technology Migration
 Future Challenges
• An ideal antenna for SDR is self-adapt,
self-align and self healing antenna which is
capable of complete adaptation to its
required application and the transmissin
environment.
• For this, high performance and flexible
radiating elements become necessary.
• Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS)
raises the hope, but still need
improvement to realize the above feature.
5/26/2009 50
 Challenges...
• For designing programmable bandpass filter is
yet to be resolved.
• To increase the Resolution and Speed of ADC
and DAC ((Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ)]
raises the hope for this.
• DSP processors have achieved significant boost
by increasing the processing clock and
employing techniques such as Very Long
Instruction Word, however, their performance still
not sufficient for many applications.
• And finally, the Interconnect Technology. One of
the main advantage of SDR is to connect several
independent building blocks to set up a radio link.

5/26/2009 51
 Challenges...
• There are mainly three technologies
for interconnecting:

Bus Architecture

Switch Fabric Architecture, and

Tree Architecture

But Interconnect Technology too not able

to satisfy broad range of applications and
requirements. Need to be converged on
any single soultion.

5/26/2009 52
 Conclusion
• In this paper we presented overall architecture
with examples and functions, applications of
SDR.
• The software radio is a powerful architecture
framework that helps us deliver such
advanced radio services in a way that
leverages the economics of contemporary
microelectronics and software technologies.
• We also discussed the benifits and
bottlenecks.
• We also tried to outline the future challenges
lie ahead of us in this so powerful technology.
5/26/2009 53
 Thank You !!!!!!

Questions..???..

5/26/2009 54