Software Defined Radio Receiver

Author:

Kelly, James Patrick

Area of Honors:

Electrical Engineering

Degree:

Bachelor of Science

Document Type:

Thesis

Thesis Supervisors:

James Kenneth Breakall, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Julio V. Urbina, Thesis Honors Advisor

Keywords:

Software Defined Radio
GNU Radio
SDR
DQPSK Modulation
PSK Modulation
QAM Modulation

Abstract:

With the ever-expanding need of different forms of communication, a demand for a cost effective means of prototyping devices has risen. Modifying already existing pieces of hardware can often be very expensive or not possible at all. A software defined radio (SDR) provides a solution to this problem, providing flexibility and cost efficiency when developing new communications technology. A software defined radio is defined by IEEE as “radio in which some or all of the physical layer functions are software defined.” Essentially, software defined radio is a radio communications system in which components that are typically implemented as physical pieces of hardware (such as amplifiers, mixers, filters, etc.) are implemented through software on a computer. One of the major advantages of a software defined radio is the flexibility it offers in allowing one piece of hardware to perform multiple functions. For example, when programmed one way, an SDR receiver can function as an AM receiver, but when programmed another way, it can function as a SSB receiver. In this thesis, I will outline programs I created in GNU Radio, an open source SDR development toolkit, which will allow the Ettus USRP N200 software defined radio receiver to function as an AM receiver, a SSB receiver, and a waterfall spectrum analyzer. Furthermore, I will display some of the capabilities of the GNU Radio software when it comes to modulating and demodulating signals through different methods.