Software Defined Radio

Software defined radio (SDR) is one of the most important topics ofresearch, and indeed development, in the area of mobile andpersonal communications. SDR is viewed as an enabler of globalroaming and as a unique platform for the rapid introduction of newservices into existing live networks. It therefore promises mobilecommunication networks a major increase in flexibility andcapability. SDR brings together two key technologies of the last decade -digital radio and downloadable software. It encompasses not onlyreconfiguration of the air interface parameters of handset andbasestation products but also the whole mobile network, tofacilitate the dynamic introduction of new functionality andmass-customised applications to the user's terminal,post-purchase. This edited book, contributed by internationally respectedresearchers and industry practitioners, describes the currenttechnological status of radio frequency design, data conversion,reconfigurable signal processing hardware, and software issues atall levels of the protocol stack and network. The book provides a holistic treatment of SDR addressing the fullbreadth of relevant technologies - radio frequency design, signalprocessing and software - at all levels. As such it provides asolid grounding for a new generation of wireless engineers for whomradio design in future will assume dynamic flexibility as agiven. In particular it explores * The unique demands of SDR upon the RF subsystem and theirimplications for front end design methodologies * The recent concepts of the 'digital front end' and'parametrization' * The role and key influence of data conversion technologies anddevices within software radio, essential to robust productdesign * The evolution of signal processing technologies, describing newarchitectural approaches * Requirements and options for software download * Advances in 'soft' protocols and 'on-the-fly' softwarereconfiguration * Management of terminal reconfiguration and its networkimplications * The concepts of the waveform description language The book also includes coverage of * Potential breakthrough technologies, such as superconducting RSFQtechnology and the possible future role of MEMS in RFcircuitry * Competing approaches, eg all-software radios implemented oncommodity computing vs advanced processing architectures thatdynamically optimise their configuration to match the algorithmrequirements at a point in time The book opens with an introductory chapter by Stephen Blust, Chairof the ITU-R WP8F Committee and Chair of the SDR Forum presenting aframework for SDR, in terms of definitions, evolutionaryperspectives, introductory timescales and regulation. Suitable for today's engineers, technical staff and researcherswithin the wireless industry, the book will also appeal tomarketing and commercial managers who need to understand the basicsand potential of the technology for future product development. Itsbalance of industrial and academic contributors also makes itsuitable as a text for graduate and post-graduate courses aiming toprepare the next generation of wireless engineers.