Module 2 — SDR & GNU Radio Foundations#
ECE 448 · Module 02
SDR & GNU Radio Foundations
The radio is software now. Meet the hardware, then build your first flowgraph.
Lessons 4–5 · Software Defined Radios · Dr. Neil Rogers
Where This Module Goes
What is inside an SDR, how sample rate and bandwidth trade, and your first GNU Radio flowgraphs against real captured signals.
Learning Objectives
- I can describe what a Software Defined Radio is, contrast it with a traditional hardware radio, and identify the SDR used in this course, the PlutoSDR.
- I can identify the roles of the RF frontend, ADC/DAC, and host in an SDR signal chain and describe sample-rate, bandwidth, and dynamic-range trade-offs.
- I can install GNU Radio and use GNU Radio Companion (GRC) to build, inspect, and run a basic flowgraph.
- I can capture a real RF signal using an SDR and interpret its time- and frequency-domain representations.
In This Module
Lesson · L4
SDR Introduction
The SDR platforms in this course, what is inside them, and the sample-rate, bandwidth, and dynamic-range trade-offs. Objectives 2.1, 2.2.
Lesson · L5GNU Radio Introduction
GNU Radio Companion from install to a running flowgraph, then a real capture in time and frequency. Objectives 2.3, 2.4.
L5 LabFirst Flowgraphs
Build, run, and inspect your first flowgraphs against a real capture. Objectives 2.3, 2.4.