What Is Software-Defined Radio?
A software-defined radio (SDR) is a wireless device that typically consists of a configurable RF front end with an FPGA or programmable system-on-chip (SoC) to perform digital functions. Commercially available SDR hardware can transmit and receive signals at different frequencies to implement wireless standards from FM radio to 5G, LTE, and WLAN.
Wireless engineers can use software-defined radio hardware as a cost-effective, real-time platform for a range of wireless engineering tasks, including:
- Over-the-air lab and field testing with live RF signals
- Rapid prototyping of custom radio functions
- Hands-on learning of wireless communications concepts and design skills
Wireless engineers can also work with various wireless standards such as 5G, LTE, WLAN, DVB-S2, and others using SDR and MATLAB® connectivity.
Block diagram of SDR components and connectivity to MATLAB.
Using a software-defined radio together with MATLAB and Simulink® for wireless design, simulation, and analysis enables engineers and students to:
- Transmit and receive standards-based and custom-generated signals.
- Test designs in the presence of interference and other real-world conditions.
- Perform real-time signal analysis and measurement.
- Deploy, prototype, and verify custom designs on Zynq® radios using HDL and C code generation from algorithm models.
- Generate HDL code from Simulink models and deploy on supported USRP™ radios.
- Verify implementation with radio-in-the-loop tests.
- Transmit and capture signals to test wideband wireless systems and perform spectrum monitoring.
- Capture wideband signals and use them to train deep learning models for wireless applications.
Deploy, prototype, and verify custom designs on SDR hardware using HDL and C code generation from algorithm models.
MATLAB and Simulink Hardware Support for SDR
You can use MATLAB and Simulink to communicate with several popular SDR platforms to perform radio-in-the-loop testing, prototyping, and hands-on learning:
Prototype and test software-defined radio (SDR) systems using Analog Devices ADALM-PLUTO with MATLAB and Simulink
Design and prototype software-defined radio (SDR) systems using RTL-SDR with MATLAB and Simulink
Design and prototype software-defined radio (SDR) systems using USRP.
USRP N3xx, X3xx, and X4xx Radios
Wireless Testbench enables USRP FPGA targeting, high-speed data transmit/capture, and intelligent signal detection to test wideband wireless systems.
Design, analyze, and prototype for AMD SoC and FPGA devices
Prototype and test software-defined radio (SDR) systems using USRP E310 with MATLAB and Simulink
SoC Blockset enables modeling, simulation, analysis, and targeting of hardware/software applications to AMD Zynq and Versal devices or Altera SoC FPGAs.
Examples and How To
Over-the-Air Testing
Prototyping
Hands-On Learning
Software-Defined Radio FAQs
A software-defined radio (SDR) is a wireless device that typically consists of a configurable RF front end with an FPGA or programmable system-on-chip (SoC) to perform digital functions. Commercially available SDR hardware can transmit and receive signals at different frequencies to implement wireless standards from FM radio to 5G, LTE, and WLAN.
Unlike traditional radios with fixed hardware components, SDR uses configurable RF front ends with FPGAs or programmable SoCs to perform digital functions through software, enabling flexible reconfiguration for different wireless standards without hardware changes.
Wireless engineers can use SDR hardware as a cost-effective, real-time platform for over-the-air lab and field testing with live RF signals, rapid prototyping of custom radio functions, and hands-on learning of wireless communications concepts and design skills.
Yes, SDR hardware connects to MATLAB and Simulink via Ethernet, USB, or PCIe, enabling engineers to transmit and receive signals, test designs, perform real-time signal analysis, deploy custom designs, and verify implementations with radio-in-the-loop tests.
SDR hardware can implement various wireless standards including 5G, LTE, WLAN, DVB-S2, GPS, ADS-B, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and FM radio by transmitting and receiving signals at different frequencies.
MATLAB and Simulink support several popular SDR platforms including Analog Devices ADALM-PLUTO, RTL-SDR, USRP B2xx/N2xx/N3xx/X3xx/X4xx/E310 radios, and AMD (Xilinx) SoC and FPGA devices.
Yes, SDR can capture wideband signals that can be used to train deep learning models for wireless applications.
Radio-in-the-loop testing allows engineers to verify custom design implementations by deploying HDL and C code generated from algorithm models onto SDR hardware and testing with real RF signals.
See also: RF system, LTE tutorial, Communications Toolbox, massive MIMO, Bluetooth Toolbox, beamforming, Wireless Testbench, 5G, DVB-S2, wireless transceiver
