Software Defined Radio and Software Radio Technology:

Concepts and Applications

Carlos E. Caicedo, Ph.D. Student
Department of Information Science and Telecommunications
University of Pittsburgh

Introduction
The introduction of new wireless communication technologies such as 3G, WiFi and WiMax are
changing the way wireless services will be used. Nowadays, the Internet has allowed people to
access great amounts of information from a single device, the desktop computer, but as small
wireless devices become more common, users will expect the same kind of experience on these
devices (Reed 2002). This requirement presents potential challenges in the areas of equipment
design, wireless service provision, security and regulation.
However, the proliferation of radio standards each requiring their own specific access terminal
and base station infrastructure is hampering the provision of new wireless applications and
services. A solution to this problem is the use of configurable radio technologies since they can
provide an infrastructure from which service providers can evolve to meet current and future user
requirements in a new way.
Configurable radio technologies give service providers many advantages, among which are:
Radio systems which are easily adaptable, reconfigurable and multifunctional in terms of
modes of operations, radio frequency bands, waveforms used and air interfaces supported.
A platform that will allow service providers to better differentiate their services and to be
able to update their network infrastructure to keep up with technological advances. Base
stations and handsets can evolve supporting current and future standards, eliminating or
at least reducing the need to create multiple overlay networks to support each standard.
The objective of the paper is to present the basic concepts of two configurable radio technologies,
Software Defined Radio (SDR) and Software Radio (SR), in order to understand their
functionality and their role in providing the above mentioned benefits/advantages to service
providers along with their potential impact on the wireless communications market with special
emphasis on categorizing the architectures to implement spectrum trading markets.

1. Defining Software Radio and Software Defined Radio

The term software radio was introduced by Joe Mitola in the 1992 National Telesystems
Conference (Mitola 1992) and brought into commercial awareness when Bellsouth issued an RFI
on the topic in 1995. The main goal of software radio development is to execute most of the
radio functions through software over a stable architecture, allowing for easy and economic
updates and improvements of a radios capabilities.

In the technical literature on configurable radio systems, the terms Software Radio (SR) and
Software Defined Radio (SDR) are used almost interchangeably. This is due in part to the many
different perspectives for software radio technology as it evolved. The real factor that differences
the two technologies is how close the digitization functions are to the antenna of a radio system.
In a software radio, digitization processes occur at or very near to the antenna and all other radio
processes are performed in software. In a software defined radio digitization occurs further away
from the antenna. As technology improves the SDR will evolve to the SR and nowadays the line
between them is disappearing.
Due to the growing importance of these technologies, some standard and regulation bodies have
established their definitions for SDRs and SRs. For the case of SDRs, the most relevant
definitions are the following:

The Federal Communications Commission defines a software defined radio as : A radio

that includes a transmitter in which the operating parameters of frequency range,
modulation type or maximum output power (either radiated or conducted) can be altered
by making a change in software without making any changes to hardware components
that affect the radio frequency emissions. (Federal Communications Commission 2001)
The definition by the SDR Forum is: A Software Defined Radio (SDR) is a collection
of hardware and software technologies that enable reconfigurable system architectures for
wireless networks and user terminals. SDR provides an efficient and comparatively
inexpensive solution to the problem of building multi-mode, multi-band, multi-functional
wireless devices that can be enhanced using software upgrades.(SDR Forum 2005)

For the case of software radios, the SDR forum considers the Software Radio (SR) as an
improvement over an SDR by eliminating the analog amplification or heterodyne mixing prior
to digital-analog conversion. Programmability extends to the entire system with analog
conversion only at the antenna, speaker and microphones(SDR Forum 2005). In a software
radio all aspects of the air interface including RF channel access and waveform synthesis (not
just selection) are defined in software.
From the above definitions, it can be seen that SDR and SR systems are closely related, differing
mostly in the part of the system where digitization under software control takes place. The
definitions also point to software radio as being an evolution of SDR technology. The rest of this
paper will treat both of these configurable radio technologies emphasizing characteristics that are
only applicable to one of them when the distinction is necessary. Additionally, since the
technical literature on SDR/SR systems has focused mostly on base station systems most of the
issues treated in this paper will also refer to such systems.

2. Structure of SDR/SR systems

Traditional transceivers in mobile systems are mostly based on the super-heterodyne structure
shown in Figure 1. These systems are limited to narrowband reception with the digital baseband
processing component usually built with ASIC technology.

Figure 1. Super-heterodyne transceiver

Figure 2 illustrates the high level structure for an ideal SDR/SR system. In this structure, the D/A
and A/D converters allow all radio functions to be performed in software. The ideal software
radio provides communications capabilities on the RF spectrum that it can access and extracts
signals that are within its A/D bandwidth. It can also reconfigure itself by running different
algorithms to structure and understand the signal format of the physical interface being used at a
particular time.

Figure 2. Ideal Software Radio system

A more precise layered structure of a software radio is shown in Figure 3. This architecture
consists of a simple analog subsystem in which operations that cannot be done digitally are
performed (RF filtering, receive preamplifications, power amplification, etc.). All other functions
are performed digitally (Burns 2003).
In this ideal architecture, the complexities and details of the hardware should be isolated in a way
that prevents them from influencing the applications software. A middleware layer achieves this
task and based on this concept, work is currently ongoing on industry and standard groups like
the SDR Forum and the Object Management Group (OMG) to create open APIs and middleware
for software radio design that will make applications development more portable and
standardized.

Figure 3. Ideal SDR/SR system

3. Challenges in SDR/SR development and design

SDR/SR are evolving technologies and although several products based on these technologies
are already in the market, there still are many challenging topics for the widespread development
and design of SDR/SR systems, among which are:

To move digitization capabilities as close as po9ssible to the antenna by using analog-todigital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) wideband conversion.
Building wideband low loss antennas and RF converters
Use and development of powerful DSP chips to replace the ASICs that implement the
algorithms and radio functions required for radio systems (Salcic 2002).
Estimating the processing demand of applications and the processing capacity of hybrid
DSP/CPU configurations.
Developing methods for achieving and sustaining the data rates across interprocessor
interfaces required for correct processing of radio signals.
Development of software technologies, platforms and tools that allow flexible
specification, design and implementation of radio systems in which there are combined
hardware and software objects.

In the specific case of SDRs, channel processing is a key functionally which involves discrete
time point operations to translate the baseband signal to an intermediate frequency (IF) by
multiplying a discrete time-domain baseband waveform by a discrete reference carrier to produce
a sampled IF signal. The sampling rate determines the performance requirements for this part of
the SDR, since sampled data values must be computationally produced and consumed within
strict timing windows in order to maintain the integrity of the signals represented.
In general, the design of SDR/SR systems requires a mix of radio, electrical and software
engineering concepts that make them more difficult to design than traditional radio systems.
However, recent technology advances and products have contributed in making SDR/SR systems
engineering feasible at an economic and practical level (Sandbridge Technologies 2006;
Sandbridge Technologies 2005).

4. Applications for SDR/SR systems

Nowadays, SDR/SR can be considered as a displacing technology which is in its early
implementation stages in the commercial wireless and civil government markets. The
deployment and application of this technology occurs where the additional costs incurred by
using it can be offset by the advantages that it provides (Tuttlebee 2002). Some of the
applications of SDR/SR systems in key markets are mentioned below.
4.1. SDR/SR use in public safety
Many decisions on public safety issues in the U.S. are taken by local governments. In the case of
telecommunications equipment for public safety agencies, this has led to interoperability
problems when several agencies at the local, state and federal level have to collaborate together
in emergency situations.
Several initiatives in the public safety sector have led to the development of interoperability
requirements for agencies involved in emergency response. In the U.S., project SAFECOM,
sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, has published a set of requirements to
address interoperability issues among wireless communication systems used by public safety
agencies (Department of Homeland Security 2004). At the international level, project MESA
(Mobility for Emergency and Safety Applications) has also released a set of requirements that
focus on digital mobile broadband applications for the public safety sector (Project MESA 2002) .
Both sets of requirements are contemplating the future use of SDR/SR technologies to fulfill
their needs.
These technologies can be used to solve many of the interoperability problems among
communications equipment in the Public Safety sector since the reconfigurability of these
systems allows them to understand several communication standards. Additionally, SDR/SR
devices in an emergency scene could act as gateways among different radio systems and serve as
base stations for several systems.
In summary, emergency response situations require flexible radio systems that are able to adapt
to the needs of the emergency workers that are in the field, SDR/SR systems could provide such
flexibility.
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4.2. SDR/SR use in the military

The militarys interest on configurable radio technologies was evident in the 90s with the
development of the SpeakEasy system series which had the objective of emulating several
military radio standards in one unit. However, with the ever increasing demands of real time
multimedia information in the field and of further communications integration among all military
branches, the DoD launched the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program in 1997 in order to
provide interoperable radio systems for military applications using software radio principles.
With the use of SDR/SR technologies the military expects to reduce radio development and
acquisition costs by providing a unified platform to which their wide variety of wireless systems
could be integrated. This technology would also give more flexibility to the military in executing
joint operations with other nations (which have their own radio systems), as well as in executing
other non-combat military operations where it has to interact with public safety and civilian
agencies.
4.3. Commercial use of SDR/SR
Base station development is where SDR/SR concepts have been applied the most, in part due to
the fact that base stations do not have tight constraints on area, power, weight and form factor as
those encountered when designing mobile handsets. Handling various wireless standards in a
small handset is a great challenge but recent advances in technology are also bringing the
development of SDR/SR handset devices closer to reality (Linear Technology Corporation
2005),(Sandbridge Technologies 2005).
Companies like Sandbridge Technologies have produced baseband processors capable of
handling several radio standards like GSM/GPRS, EDGE, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, 1xEV-DO,
TDSCDMA, WiFi and GPSas well as being able to handle various multimedia formats like
MPEG-4 H.264, MP-3, WMA and more (Sandbridge Technologies 2005). These processors can
be used to build multimedia communication handsets that can work with several air interfaces.
In addition to enabling multimode, multimedia terminals, since SDR/SR based terminals can be
reconfigured via software they could facilitate roaming, lower terminal costs, ease dynamic
spectrum management, allow for service personalization features and more. All of this makes
commercial development of these terminals very attractive.
Another potential application for SDR/SR technology in the commercial sector is to become one
of the driving forces in the rollout of 3G systems. SDR/SR systems offer many capabilities that
can solve the problems caused by the proliferation of new air interfaces. Although companies
like Nokia, Lucent and Ericsson which are members of the SDR Forum consider SDR/SR
concepts (flexible frequency allocation, software configurability of radio parameters, etc. ) and
technology as important, many innovations are coming from relatively new companies like Vanu
Inc. and Sandbridge Technologies.

5. Standards and Regulatory issues for SDR/SR technologies

5.1. The Software Radio Defined (SDR) Forum
The SDR Forum is an International, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the
development, deployment, and use of SDR technologies for advanced wireless systems (SDR
Forum 2006). The forum was formed in 1996 and its members include software radio
manufacturers, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, silicon chip vendors, scientific
and research organizations.
This Forum is not a standards body but it develops recommendations that in the future may
become standards if enough commercial support is obtained. The Forums efforts have
contributed to the organization and development of technical requirement specifications on many
areas of SDR technology.
5.2. Software Standards for Software Radio
In SDR/SR systems, the software component is one of the great enablers of their functionality.
Efforts are currently being focused in the development of open software architectures and
interfaces with the aim of granting software reuse, portability and compatibility for these systems.
The Software Communications Architecture Specification - SCA initially developed and
promoted by the United States Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) Program has become the
most widely accepted architecture in SDR/SR community. Figure 4 shows the structure of the
Software Communications Architecture.

Figure 4. Software Communications Architecture (Joint Tactical Radio System - Joint Program Office 2004)

The SCA is a complex architecture aimed at supporting signal processing applications running
securely on heterogeneous and distributed hardware. It provides services for the creation,
installation, management and removal of waveforms, management of distributed hardware, file

systems and the configuration of system components. Future SDR/SR system developments are
expected to use this architecture due to its acceptance by defense contractors in several countries
and the development of commercial and open source software tools that are based on it.
5.3. Regulation for SDR/SR technology
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released in 2001 its First Report and Order on
Software Defined Radios. In the order, it legally created a new class of equipment for software
defined radios (SDRs) with streamlined equipment authorization procedures. It also amended
equipment authorization rules to permit manufacturers of equipment to make changes to the
frequency, power and modulation parameters of SDRs without having to file a new equipment
authorization application with the Commission.
This first ruling recognized the fact that software was being used to determine the RF
characteristics of radios but placed many controls on the way this software could be updated and
managed securely. After several requests and a compilation of comments during 2004, the FCC
released another ruling in 2005 (Federal Communications Commission March 10, 2005) where it
modified and clarified certain authorization requirements for software defined radios and
cognitive radios to facilitate the development of these technologies. Cognitive radio extends
SDR/SR technology to incorporate knowledge of a users usage patterns, context awareness
(location, type of service most likely to be requested by user, etc), and environmental factors
(available services, link conditions) in the provision of wireless services.
The 2005 ruling eliminated the requirement that the manufacturer of a software defined radio
should supply the software source code of a SDR system to the FCC for approval, and instead,
it requests that a manufacturer supply a high level operational description of the software that
controls the radios RF characteristics, and a description of the software security measures
employed to prevent unauthorized modifications.
Additionally, the Commission concluded that there are technical measures that configurable
radio systems (specifically, cognitive radios) could employ to allow reliable secondary use of
spectrum. This along with the continuing adaptation of regulation for SDR/SR systems,
illustrates the important place that SDR/SR technology and cognitive radio systems will have in
the FCCs spectrum management initiatives.

6. New markets: Spectrum Trading

SDR/SR devices and infrastructure provide a layer of flexibility for spectrum providers and users
that can give rise to new forms of wireless services and provider interactions. Of particular
interest is the establishment of spectrum trading. This is a market based mechanism where,
ideally, buyers and sellers determine the assignments of spectrum and its uses. Traditional static
spectrum assignment incurs in spectrum use inefficiencies which grow as technology evolves
and demands more flexible access to spectrum. Spectrum trading can improve the efficiency of
the initial distributions of spectrum by allowing the licensees to be those who value its use the
most and by making use of the technology that provides the best economic gains.

Spectrum trading markets can be implemented in many ways. A summary of the proposed
classification of technical architectures for Spectrum trading infrastructure from the work of the
author is given here (Caicedo and Weiss 2007). The classification is based on infrastructure,
configuration method, activation and flexibility
Infrastructure
Spectrum obtained via a trade can be used by the buyer through a shared infrastructure such as a
pooling point where several licensees (those that have participated in trades and obtained
spectrum) can make use of their awarded spectrum for transmissions. A licensee could also use
its own equipment to make use of his spectrum.
Configuration method
The configuration of the traded spectrum over a region can be done in a centralized or distributed
manner. In a centralized architecture a spectrum exchange entity is in charge of spectrum
configuration for a region and configures all the technical parameters of each trade and controls
the infrastructure required for the use of the spectrum.
In a distributed architecture, the exchange gives permission over a specific area to a service
provider to use the spectrum that has been traded. This permission would specify the technical
parameters of the allowed operations over the spectrum. The configuration of the equipment that
allows transmission/reception over the traded spectrum is done by other means not in direct
control of the exchange. In this case the exchange is acting more like a broker.
Activation
The requests for spectrum to be acquired through trading can be provider initiated or user
initiated. A provider initiated request is one where the entity that wants to provide a service
initiates the request to obtain the necessary spectrum. A user initiated request is one where the
users terminal equipment determines the need to acquire spectrum to support the services
required by the user (Zekavat and Li 2005). An architecture could also support both types of
requests. In this case, medium to long term use of the spectrum is managed through provider
initiated requests, while short term and/or bursty behavior is handled through user initiated trades.
Flexibility
Flexibility refers to the range of wireless standards and their related protocols that can be used to
support services over the traded spectrum. A multi-protocol architecture supports a non restricted
set of wireless protocols while a restricted protocol architecture is one where only one or a small
number of MAC protocols is allowed.
The fewer protocols supported, the easier it is to determine interference interactions among users
but the less flexible the system becomes. However, its worth considering also the effects of
handling several protocols on the logical requirements of the spectrum trading infrastructure
since the logical processing needs also grow as more protocols are supported.
Each of the above architectures will require a different set of technical elements, protocols and
capabilities for implementation which will have consequences in terms of number of information
flows for a trade, transaction costs and complexity. For example, an architecture that supports

distributed configuration might have higher transaction overhead and thus, possibly higher
transaction costs for each trade configuration.

7. Comments and conclusions

Although many advances in technology have made the implementation of SDR/SR systems
viable, their widespread adoption still faces technical, economical and regulatory challenges. For
each of these areas Ill mention a couple of comments and conclusions.
Technical
The adaptability of the front-end of a configurable radio system is limited to some extent
by the configurability of its analog components (antenna, LNA, etc). However, gains in
the behavior of the system can be obtained with the use of smart (adaptive) antennas
arrays since they can adapt their spatial and frequency performance dynamically. This
would allow improvements in the reception/transmission capabilities of an SDR/SR
system making smart antennas a key technology for their development.
The development of SDR/SR systems requires the combination of radio design
techniques, signal processing and software design. Integrated hardware / software deign
tools are required to support the total design cycle of these systems since their
unavailability makes it harder for many companies to start their own designs leaving only
a couple of players in this field.
The applications that run on top of SDR/SR systems should take into account the
dynamic aspects of the hardware in which they are being accessed. However, this
introduces development complexities when trying to match application and hardware
variations. The solution is to create an application environment that is capable of
performing all the negotiations and changes necessary to allow new applications to
operate in a dynamic hardware system (Reed 2002). Work done by the 3GPP on MExE
(Mobile Station Application Execution Environment) is pointing in this direction.
Regulatory/Legal
The capabilities of many DSP boards if installed inside modern desktop computers
equipped with signal processing software packages (i.e. LabView) make possible the
construction of limited configurable radio devices by regular citizens. An example of this
is the GNU Radio project which has produced a collection of software that when
combined with minimal hardware, allows the construction of radios where the actual
waveforms transmitted and received are defined by software. As very capable DSPs
become more available, it may be necessary to put restrictions on their use in the
generation of signals or applications that may interfere with established and licensed
radio services.
SDR/SR technologies can serve as enablers to the secondary use of spectrum initiatives
promoted by the FCC. However, the definition of spectrum negotiation protocols (maybe
over the air) and the clarification of liability issues in secondary use still needs further
clarification.

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Economic
Telecommunication service providers have continuous pressure to provide services at a
low cost. Software radios can lower infrastructure and operation costs for a wireless
telecommunications provider by providing a platform that can support multiple standards
(Burns 2003). Additionally, software radio technology can increase the hardware
usefulness lifetime (both for the base station and the user terminal) providing protection
to investments made on infrastructure since hardware can be reused by making software
changes until new generations of hardware platforms are required.
SDR/SR technologies will push the creation of new business models in the wireless
sector which will be based in the provision of enhanced and feature rich services with
personalization where basically the software features that a wireless service operator has
at his disposal will determine the kind of services that he can provide.
SDR/SR based systems can also be used as the technical enabler for the establishment of
spectrum trading in the wireless telecommunications market a concept that could lead to
a new set of dynamic commercial interactions in the way wireless spectrum, transmission
capacity and the provision of services are handled in the wireless market.
SDR/SR technologies raise the possibility of having multiple carriers that can share one
network infrastructure with an SDR/SR platform handling multiple protocols in different
bands of spectrum which can make it easier for small start-up companies to provide
wireless services. With multiple carriers co-locating on one SDR network, the carriers
can eliminate most of the costs of duplication of network infrastructure while each carrier
can still provide its own unique set of services and applications.

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