n5ac 2015 huntsville hamfest flexradio systems
TRANSCRIPT
SDR Architectures, Remote Radio and FlexRadio Update
Huntsville Hamfest: August 15, 2015
Stephen Hicks, N5AC VP Engineering, FlexRadio Systems
SDR, Remote HF, FlexRadio Agenda
What is an SDR? History of Amateur SDR Technologies that make an SDR
Remote HF and Maestro FlexRadio Update Other presentations today
What is an SDR?
What is an SDR?
What is an SDR?
SDR is a spectrum
Some radios are clearly NOT
Other radios clearly ARE
Many permutations in-between
So what makes up an SDR?
Back to Basics …
Radio Magic
Back to Basics …
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
Multi-Conversion
64.455 MHz 455kHz
36kHz
3–15 kHz Roofing Filter
Distortion
DEMOD
Engineering Design Process
Draw a block diagram
Simulate
Draw a schematic
Simulate
Build
Measure and adjust
Engineering Design Process
Does the circuit match the simulation exactly? NO … WHY?
Components are not “ideal” There are losses not modeled Component variance Component capabilities
Result: Never as good as the simulation
Can’t we account for component differences?
In some cases, YES
Some materials work better in some cases
Compensating circuits can be added
In some cases, NO
There will always be issues
Components and ProblemsResistors Capacitors Inductors Transistors Mixers Amplifiers Crystals Filters
Lot Variance Parasitics Non-linearities Thermal variance Electrically induced variance IMD Manufacturing variance The list goes on…
Filtering: The Goal“Brick Wall” Filter
frequency
resp
onse
Block undesired
Pass desired
FilteringPractical limits to achievable results
Suggested capacitor model, Tantalum capacitor
Block Diagram Key
Yellow blocks are
Green blocks are DIGITAL
ANALOG
123 346 767 1134
001 1010 1011 110 010
455 913 21
2394 23
Filter Design: SimulationSampled signals passed through simulated ideal components
Results could even be played out a speaker
123 346 767 1134 1582 1204 895 431 208
150 300 600 1200 1500 1200 600 300 150
FILTER SIMULATION DAC
Filter Design: Simulation Limits
Analog: 20-30 poles
Digital: unlimited … except for latency. Maybe 200, 1000, more!
Could a computer run the simulation IN THE RADIO?
ADC DACFILTER SIMULATION
Presto: Software in the Radio
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Is this an SDR?
ADC DAC
DEFINITIONS: Software Defined vs. Controlled
CONTROLLED
Computer Control of Fixed Capabilities(frequency, band, etc)
DEFINED
Modulation, Demodulation, filtering, and processing; as well as Control Capabilities Software Defined and Upgradeable
Filter Shape Factor
FLEX-‐5000 Note Brick Wall & Flatness
Radio Y
Radio Z
Radio X
500 Hz Brick Wall Filter
6dB Bandwidth 487 Hz, 60dB Bandwidth 660 Hz, Shape Factor ~1.35 4096 Bin FFT and 2048 Tap Filter
2.8KHz SSB Filter Spectrum
6dB Bandwidth 2587 Hz, 60dB Bandwidth 2756 Shape Factor ~1.06, 2048 Tap Filter
Software Demodulation
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Now, is this an SDR?
ADC
DAC
Software Demodulation and Baseband
New demod schemes added later!
Precise Filtering
Advanced Noise Reduction
DEMOD
IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
FILTER DAC
ADC
PowerSDR - A FlexRadio Original!
Economics 101
What is the marginal cost of a 2nd receiverin an analog radio?
ANSWER: the cost of the added parts (plus amortized engineering)
What if I want 2 RX?
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
2x analog components ≈ $2x
ADC
DAC
DEMODADC
FILT
ER
What are we trying to achieve?
Remove distortion
Better performance
Flexibility to change or add features
Ability to tailor the radio quickly
Never before possible noise mitigation
Never before possible capabilities
Can we do more?
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
What about this analog stuff?
DAC
ADC
Direct Sampling
LO
DEMOD
FILTER
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Now, THAT’s an SDR!
DAC
ADC
LO
DEMOD
FILTER IF AMP
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Why doesn’t everyone do Direct Sampling?192kHz @ 64bits =
12Mbps192kHz
DAC
ADC
10Mbps
Direct Sampling
LO
DEMOD
FILTER
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Now, THAT’s an SDR!
250MHz @ 16bits = 4Gbps
250MHz
DAC
ADC
4Gbps is…
40 - 100Mbps cables4 - 1Gbps cables
That’s a LOT of data! The most modern home networking you can buy, can’t handle this …
Economics 101
What is the marginal cost of a 2nd receiverin an digital radio (SDR)?
ANSWER: the cost of the extra processing power (plus amortized engineering) … think Moore’s law
Processing Power = FPGA
Direct Sampling
LO
DEMOD
FILTER
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
FILTER
Now, THAT’s an SDR!
ALL of HF digitizedALL of HF
DAC
ADC
Direct Sampling
NCO
DEMOD
FILTER
AUDIO AMP
MIXER
How many do you want?
DAC
ADC
DEMOD
FILTER
MIXER
Direct Sampling Benefits
+ Distortion minimized (ADC @ antenna): best signal clarity + n-Receivers, n-Panadapters and varying widths
see more bands, more receivers + Extremely high dynamic range: operate in worst
conditions + Extreme flexibility through reprogrammability (ultimate
SDR): future benefits – Technically challenging to design
Example Third Generation SDR Architecture
dd
7.9Gbps + 1Gbps
F A T
“Our Choices Determine Our Destiny” — A.R. Benard
Shortcut to the finish line:
Direct Sampling Receiver A
PowerSDR et. al.
Rapidly bring up a direct sampling receiver
Each 192kHz receiver uses 10+ Mbps
A full 1MHz of bandwidth panadapter: 73 Mbps
Not scalable
“Our Choices Determine Our Destiny” — A.R. Benard
Building for the future:
FLEX-6000 SmartSDR
New software, much more work in the radio
A full-screen panadapter: <1 Mbps AT ANY WIDTH
Scalable, Remotable
Spectrum Display BW
1MHz <500kbps
1MHz 77Mbps
150:1 Bandwidth Difference
10MHz <500kbps
1500:1 Bandwidth Difference
10MHz 770Mbps
SmartSDR APIs
FLEX-6XXX
Windows Computer
UDP TCP
FlexLib
SmartSDR Ethernet API
SmartSDR FlexLib API
SmartSDR
SmartSDR-Windows
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Continued to hear that knobs/buttons are important Often, existing products maligned for complexity Station reconfiguration time frustrating Integration in SO2R, M/1, M/2, M/M stations a problem The dream of simple remote operation…
Maestro The interviews…
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro Control surface and more…
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro Control surface and more
Essentially a remotable SmartSDRwith knobs & buttons Can be used in place of a computer to run any FLEX-6000 Optimized to have just frequently used controls Let’s take a closer look …
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro Display
WXGA (1280x800) 8” IPS Cap Touch Can show one or two panafalls Up to two slices Cap touch, pinch to zoom, buttons and pop-up menus Built on SmartSDR API
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro Controls
Slice A
Slice B or
RIT/XIT
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro Capabilities
Integrated CW keyer Mic, headphones, line in/out ~6 hours of battery life or plug-in (12V nom.) WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and wired Ethernet (1GbE) VESA mount for Public Safety comms, mobile use, etc
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Maestro What’s next?
Control of a computer and large display (fairly easy) Multiple Maestros on a single radio WAN use (away from the shack) Who knows …
GLASS Project OverviewMay 2015
Global AIS on Space Station
GLASS Project
❑ GLASS Project ▪Global AIS on Space Station (GLASS) is a collaborative applied research and development project to assess the practical value of AIS data collected on the International Space Station (ISS) for maritime operations and worldwide MDA
❑ Majority funded by CASIS, an organization selected by NASA to maximize use of the ISS U.S. National Laboratory ▪ Two-‐year initiative beginning September 2014 ▪ CASIS contribution of more than $500,000 ▪All participants making significant in-‐kind contributions
53
Rationale
❑ Nearly all commercial ships are tracked using Automatic Identification System (AIS)
❑ AIS receivers are typically limited to line-‐of-‐site signal reception
❑ GLASS to acquire world-‐wide, real-‐time AIS data from ISS
❑ ISS ideally suited to maximize reception of AIS signals and offers opportunities for upgrades and maintenance by on-‐board crew
❑ Better information will enhance commercial business, improve national security, protect the environment, and provide economic and societal benefits
54
Team & Roles55
4
❑ JAMSS America, Inc. – principal investigator and project integrator
❑ University of Hawaii – co-‐investigator, maritime researcher and GLASS operational evaluator
❑ Greater Houston Port Bureau – co-‐investigator, maritime consultant and GLASS operational evaluator
❑ Mare Liberum Consulting, L.P. – co-‐investigator, data systems and AIS signal processing/analysis
❑ Flexitech, LLC – consultant, aerospace radio communications technologies
❑ VPI Engineering, FlexRadio Systems & Flexitech, LLC – developers, GLASS space segment system
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Two channels with up to four doppler regions = 8CH Access to samples from receivers (Waveform API) Ethernet output to get samples to ground station
Why FlexRadio?
Project Overview57
GLASS Da
ta
GLASS Servers
•Client Services •Health & Status • Secure Data Archive
User Assessments & Feedback
NASA Ground Network
•Raw Data •Processed Information
Equipment on the ISS consists of redundant SDR (software defined radio) receivers to process incoming AIS signals, packetize them and forward the packets to the TDRSS for downlink to the ground.
TDRSS
ISS
ISS – International Space Station TDRSS – Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
Users (Evaluators)
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Express Racks
© 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
GLASS Express Rack Drawer
Schedule
❑ Grant awarded (September 2014) ❑ Hardware/software development (initiated October 2014)
❑ Equipment launched to ISS and readied for operation (late 2015)
❑ System operation and data collection (12-‐month duration)
❑ Final assessment and report ❑ Project completion (late 2016) ❑ Commercial business initiation (2017)
60
6
Anticipated Value
❑ Enhanced global competitiveness ❑ Adaptation to supply chain disruptions ❑ Improved protection of U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones ❑ Decreased environmental impacts ❑ Increased environmental protection ❑ Decreased illegal activities ❑ Expedited emergency response ❑ Enhanced education and training ❑ Data mining for societal benefit
61
7
“Better information will enhance commercial business, improve national security, protect the environment, and provide economic and societal benefits.”
Waveform API Examples: CODEC2, D-STAR, System Fusion, PSK31, RTTY, CODEC2, WSJT, etc.
Open Source Wrapper
Enable development of waveforms on PC
Could remain on PC or moved inside radio
Inside radio runs as a separate process alleviating open source issues
Voice Mode (voice ↔ IQ)RX
DEMOD 24ksps IQ in, audio out (RX stream)
TXMOD audio in, 24ksps IQ out (TX stream)
TXCTRL Transmit Control
Registration Mode and services registration
IQ
AUDIO
AUDIO
IQ
Digital Modes (data ↔ IQ)RX
DEMOD 24ksps IQ in/text out (RX stream)
TXMOD text in/24ksps IQ out (TX stream)
TXCTRL Transmit Control
Registration Mode and services registration
DATA
DATA
IQ
IQ
SmartSDR Introducing D-STAR Capability
For all FLEX-6000s Both HF and VHF (6700) via ThumbDV device Open Source Expandable With FLEX-6000 transverter access, can be used on ANY band
D-STAR
SmartSDR Digital Voice Interoperability Platform
Waveform API enabler CODEC2/FreeDV D-STAR …more to come!
SmartSDR v1.3 August 2014
CWX Transverter operation Contest Logger return focus Profile manager Diversity
SmartSDR v1.3.8 October 2014
Mostly fixes from v1.3.0 Sharper panafall lines lines
SmartSDR v1.4 March 2015
LAN Remote FM / DFM Memories Performance Optimizations CW Enhancements DAX Enhancements CAT Improvements
SmartSDR v1.4.3 April 2015
Binaural receive Digital transmit monitor TX Audio play/record FlexControl Enhancements
SmartSDR v1.4.11 May 2015
ATU Memories First noise mitigation work (NR & ANF)
SmartSDR v1.5 September 2015 (planned)
Wideband Impulse Noise Blanker RTTY mode D-STAR Mode Full Duplex (RX/TX simultaneously) DX/Contesting additions
Current Priorities
DXing and Contesting (4Q15) Maestro (4Q15) v2.0 (Full Internet Remote, 1H16)
Provides SO2R capability to all FLEX Signature Series Transceivers
Contest filters
Antenna switching for SO2R
“SO2R Box” Early 2016
Cuts the cost of SO2R contesting in HALF
Eliminate all the complexities
Simplifies operations and station construction
Simplifies station reconfiguration
“SO2R Box” Early 2016
Questions?