Software Defined Radio / Wiley Series in Software Radio (PDF)

Software defined radio (SDR) is one of the most important topics of
research, and indeed development, in the area of mobile and
personal communications. SDR is viewed as an enabler of global
roaming and as a unique platform for the rapid introduction of new
services into existing live networks. It therefore promises mobile
communication networks a major increase in flexibility and
capability.

SDR brings together two key technologies of the last decade -
digital radio and downloadable software. It encompasses not only
reconfiguration of the air interface parameters of handset and
basestation products but also the whole mobile network, to
facilitate the dynamic introduction of new functionality and
mass-customised applications to the user's terminal,
post-purchase.

This edited book, contributed by internationally respected
researchers and industry practitioners, describes the current
technological status of radio frequency design, data conversion,
reconfigurable signal processing hardware, and software issues at
all levels of the protocol stack and network.

The book provides a holistic treatment of SDR addressing the full
breadth of relevant technologies - radio frequency design, signal
processing and software - at all levels. As such it provides a
solid grounding for a new generation of wireless engineers for whom
radio design in future will assume dynamic flexibility as a
given.

In particular it explores

* The unique demands of SDR upon the RF subsystem and their
implications for front end design methodologies

* The recent concepts of the 'digital front end' and
'parametrization'

* The role and key influence of data conversion technologies and
devices within software radio, essential to robust product
design

* The evolution of signal processing technologies, describing new
architectural approaches

* Requirements and options for software download

* Advances in 'soft' protocols and 'on-the-fly' software
reconfiguration

* Management of terminal reconfiguration and its network
implications

* The concepts of the waveform description language

The book also includes coverage of

* Potential breakthrough technologies, such as superconducting RSFQ
technology and the possible future role of MEMS in RF
circuitry

* Competing approaches, eg all-software radios implemented on
commodity computing vs advanced processing architectures that
dynamically optimise their configuration to match the algorithm
requirements at a point in time

The book opens with an introductory chapter by Stephen Blust, Chair
of the ITU-R WP8F Committee and Chair of the SDR Forum presenting a
framework for SDR, in terms of definitions, evolutionary
perspectives, introductory timescales and regulation.

Suitable for today's engineers, technical staff and researchers
within the wireless industry, the book will also appeal to
marketing and commercial managers who need to understand the basics
and potential of the technology for future product development. Its
balance of industrial and academic contributors also makes it
suitable as a text for graduate and post-graduate courses aiming to
prepare the next generation of wireless engineers.