Use Multiple Radios Attached to Host Computer

Assignment of USB Port Addresses

The assignment of USB port addresses depends on how many devices are plugged into ports and which ports they are plugged into. If a device is plugged into the first USB port, the address of the device is 0. However, if a device is plugged into any port after the first one, the address of that device depends on whether a device is plugged into any of the previous ports.

This diagram shows how the USB port addresses are assigned when devices are added and then removed in first in, first out (FIFO) order.

USB port address assignment for multiple radios is done in FIFO manner.

This diagram shows how the USB port addresses are assigned when devices are added and then removed from port 0. The radio address for the second RTL device changes based on whether the first port has a device in it. To access a radio with the correct radio address, you must keep track of the plugged-in devices in order.

USB port address assignment for multiple radios. To access a radio with the correct radio address, you must keep track of the plugged-in devices in order.

Multiple Radio Blocks

When you have more than one RTL-SDR radio attached to your host computer, use an RTL-SDR Receiver block for each radio. For each block, change the Radio address parameter to the USB port address of the associated radio. After you change the radio address for each block, the hardware information updates.

Multiple Radio System Objects

When you have more than one RTL-SDR radio attached to your host computer, use an RTL-SDR receiver System object™ for each radio. Each time you create an RTL-SDR receiver System object, set its RadioAddress property to the value of the USB port address of the associated radio.

For example, to set the RadioAddress property to the value of the USB port address of a second radio, follow these steps.

Create an RTL-SDR receiver by using the comm.SDRRTLReceiver System object.

radio = comm.SDRRTLReceiver

radio = 
 comm.SDRRTLReceiver with properties:
 
           RadioAddress: '0'
        CenterFrequency: 102500000
         EnableTunerAGC: true
             SampleRate: 250000
         OutputDataType: 'int16'
        SamplesPerFrame: 1024
    FrequencyCorrection: 0
        EnableBurstMode: false

Set the RadioAddress property to the address of the second radio.

 radio = comm.SDRRTLReceiver('RadioAddress','1')

radio = 
 comm.SDRRTLReceiver with properties:
 
           RadioAddress: '1'
        CenterFrequency: 102500000
         EnableTunerAGC: true
             SampleRate: 250000
         OutputDataType: 'int16'
        SamplesPerFrame: 1024
    FrequencyCorrection: 0
        EnableBurstMode: false

Note

To configure your computer for multiple radios, see Configure Multiple RTL-SDR Radios.