Bachelor in Engineering in Technology Management

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Software Radio

Description
The migration toward digital processing in radio transceiver design has evolved to integrate virtually all blocks that were previously analog. Today, we have high-speed, high-resolution A/D and D/A converters, advanced digital mixers (DDC: Digital Down Converter, DUC: Digital Up Converter), signal processors (DSP: Digital Signal Processors), and high-performance programmable devices (FPGA and SoC with CPU integration). This evolution has enabled the implementation of 5G and 6G communication systems, as well as software-defined radio (SDR) architectures that support multiple standards and are reconfigurable in real time. Thanks to this, it is now possible to develop adaptive transceivers capable of optimizing energy consumption, latency, and robustness in dynamic environments, including applications such as vehicular networks, IoT, LEO satellite communications, and MIMO systems. The course ?Software Radio? trains students in understanding the digital devices that can be part of a radio system, their characteristics and performance, operating modes, and ultimately, the role they play in designing a complete radio system that meets specific requirements.
Type Subject
Optativa
Semester
Second
Credits
3.00

Titular Professors

Previous Knowledge

- From digital signal processing, sampled systems theory and its frequency domain representation, decimation interpolation and digital filtering.
- From Electronic circuit design, A/D and D/A converters theory.
- From Computers architecture, computer theory, segmentation, input/output interface, interrupt based programming.
- From Radio technologies, radio performance characterization: sensibility, dynamic range and blocking.

Objectives

The main objectives of this subject are to learn …

1. The theory of operation of the digital devices that can take part of a radio system.
2. The capacity to synthesize a digital radio architecture with some given performance.
3. The capacity to analyze a given radio architecture and obtain his characteristics.
4. The ability to search, using new technologies, commercially available devices that fit in a design and, if necessary, the ability to change the theoretical design in order to adapt it to real devices.
5. The capacity to extract information from datasheets, papers or any other kind of bibliography written in a foreign language.
6. The capacity to apply knowledge in practice, programming algorithms in a digital platform
7. The ability to work in group.
8. The capacity for oral and written communication in the native language.
9. Decision-making. The teacher proposes to the students to implement a solution for an algorithm. The students must decide the best option, implement it and justify it.

Contents

An outline of the subject follows:

A. The super heterodyne digital receiver
1. Introduction
2. High performance A/D/A converters, from three points of view:
a. The ideal converter.
b. The commercially available converter.
c. Advanced techniques applied to radio: oversampling, undersampling and dithering
3. Digital Down Converter (DDC) i Digital Up Converter (DUC).
- DDC: AD6620 from Analog Devices and HSP50016 from Intersil.
- DUC: AD6622 from Analog Devices and HSP50215 from Intersil.

B. The programmable logic devices
6. Introduction
7. Architecture
8. The hardware description language: VHDL
9. Programming of some applications: FIR filters, comb filters, numerically controllet oscillators, etc.

C. Practice
Designing of an algorithm and programming it in a FPGA based platform.
In this practice, the student is introduced to the design and programming of an application on a Xilinx FPGA using the Xilinx Vivado development environment.

Methodology

A. Theoretical sessions, using blackboard, slides and electronic documents containing:
a. Simulation results or graphics
b. Extracts from datasheets, paper or other documents.
The teacher provides the student with the notes of the class. These notes are available on paper or electronic support.

B. Theoretical sessions online, using electronic guides, notes, forums, news, e-mail, virtual classes, etc.

Furthermore, other learning activities are proposed:

C. Exercises to solve at home. The teacher provides the student with some solved exercises that the student uses to practice and learn how to apply the most important concepts of the subject. The ability to work autonomously is, then, encouraged.
D. Participation to virtual forums. The teacher creates online forums proposing many topics to discuss. The students contribute to this forum with ideas, problems, etc. The ability to communicate using written native language is encouraged.
E. Teamwork in the practice sessions. The students design algorithms and implement it in real platforms. They collaborate to achieve the best solution. When the work is finished, they make an oral presentation of his results to the teacher and the rest of the students. They also give a written document to the teacher summarizing the work and conclusions.

Evaluation

The evaluation mechanisms of the subject are:

A). Exams.
(B). Self-assessment tests carried out virtually on the e-campus or during written exams.
(C). Individual assignments, proposed throughout the year.
(D). Group assignments, proposed throughout the year.
(E). Participation in class and in virtual forums. The professor gathers information about the attitude and aptitude shown in students? contributions during lectures or in discussion forums.

Evaluation Criteria

The qualification in the written exam weights an 60 % in the final qualification of the subject. Another 40 % is obtained from the other evaluation methods.

Basic Bibliography

The subject provides the student with notes.

Additional Material

`Integrated A/D and D/A converters´, Rudy van de Plassche, Ed. Kluwer, © 1994
`AD6644 Datasheet´, Analog Devices, www.analog.com.
`AD9754 Datasheet´, Analog Devices, www.analog.com.
`AD6620 Datasheet´, Analog Devices, www.analog.com.
`AD6622 Datasheet´, Analog Devices, www.analog.com.
`The Scientist and Engineer´s Guide to Digital Signal Processing´, W. Smith, Analog Devices.
`The DSP Handbook´, Andrew Bateman, Ed. Prentice-Hall, © 2001.
`ADSP-2106x User´s Manual´, Analog Devices, www.analog.com.