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Executive Summary
Traditional hardware
based radios were soon recognized to be very limited in their
functionality. 2G cell phones designed to run GSM protocols are becoming
obsolete as 3G technologies start to prevail since they are based on
fixed hardware that executes GSM protocols and are not able to run 3G
standards such as W-CDMA. This amounts to wastage of plenty of resources
both in terms of money and time as new radios will be built from
scratch. Problem behind all this has been identified as non-reconfigure
ability of conventional radios in any significant capacity. An emerging
architecture generally referred to as software radio shifts much of the
signal processing into software and reprogrammable hardware, enabling
devices that can be reconfigured after deployment — including augmenting
their functionality. This new idea was first envisioned by Dr. Joseph
Mitola back in 1992 and since then there has been considerable amount of
research efforts targeting the development of a fully functional SDR.
This project is
focused on developing an open-source signal processing API that would
implement various base-band processing techniques and protocols for
wireless communications in a parameterized fashion for Software-Defined
Radio (SDR) applications. It will be developed for use with various
OSSIE (Open Source SCA Implementation:: Embedded) platforms.
Base-band processing
techniques in the jargon of wireless communications mainly consists of
tasks such as: filtering, modulation/demodulation, channel estimation
and error correction. Each of these tasks has implementation details
depending upon the standard being implemented. Digital filtering specs,
modulation/demodulation types etc. are all generally dictated by the
standard. And, a multi-standard software-defined radio, apart from
changing its various parameters in one particular standard being
executed at a time, implements a number of different standards (usually
2 or 3) depending upon its potential uses in different standard regions
of the world such as Europe, Asia or Americas and thus enhancing
interoperability.
The project shall aim
at providing an extended open source library that will aid the
development of the latest protocols like WiMax and WiFi PHY layers on
C/C++ as well as the OSSIE. For this purpose it will develop all the
“blocks” of the communication standards on C/C++ and OSSIE in the form
of APIs. These APIs will have the functionality to be reconfigured and
hence be used as plug-and-play blocks in various communication
standards. These shall be developed keeping in mind their use in WiMax
and WiFi. So for use in these systems they need not be changed at all.
But they can be extended to work in other standards with modifications.
The designed
Application Programming Interface (API) will be open source and shall be
available for nonprofit scientific and academic uses. It will be made
available online and radio research community from all over the globe
shall be welcome to make any changes or updates in it. It will be ready
to use by hardware developers of the SDRs to fine tune and test their
hardware platforms.
The key benefits of this project are given below:
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The solution will
have a working SDR for the PHY of WiMax along with the RF front end.
It will have a complete APIs that can support WiFi along with an
elaborate library ready to be used for simulation of communication
systems in C/C++ as well as further development of Software Radios.
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The project will
provide grounds for the development of an industrial grade WiMax
platform implemented either on a GPP or dedicated hardware.
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The transfer of
technology will take place in the form of end-to-end prototype for
broadband wireless modem.
- Highly
optimized modules developed for communication systems will be
provided to the industry.
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