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N5AC 2015 Ham-Com FlexRadio Technology Update
- 2. SDR Architectures, Remote Radio and FlexRadio Update Ham-Com: June 13, 2015 Stephen Hicks, N5AC VP Engineering, FlexRadio Systems
- 3. SDR, Remote HF, FlexRadio Agenda What is an SDR? History of Amateur SDR Technologies that make an SDR Remote HF and Maestro FlexRadio Update Other presentations today
- 4. What is an SDR?
- 5. What is an SDR?
- 6. What is an SDR? SDR is a spectrum Some radios are clearly NOT Other radios clearly ARE Many permutations in-between So what makes up an SDR?
- 7. Back to Basics … Radio Magic
- 8. Back to Basics … LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER
- 9. Multi-Conversion 64.455 MHz 455kHz 36kHz 3–15 kHz Roofing Filter Distortion DEMOD
- 10. Engineering Design Process Draw a block diagram Simulate Draw a schematic Simulate Build Measure and adjust
- 11. Engineering Design Process Does the circuit match the simulation exactly? NO … WHY? Components are not “ideal” There are losses not modeled Component variance Component capabilities Result: Never as good as the simulation
- 12. Can’t we account for component differences? In some cases, YES Some materials work better in some cases Compensating circuits can be added In some cases, NO There will always be issues
- 13. Components and Problems Resistors Capacitors Inductors Transistors Mixers Amplifiers Crystals Filters Lot Variance Parasitics Non-linearities Thermal variance Electrically induced variance IMD Manufacturing variance The list goes on…
- 14. Filtering: The Goal “Brick Wall” Filter frequency response Block undesired Pass desired
- 15. Filtering Practical limits to achievable results Suggested capacitor model, Tantalum capacitor
- 16. Block Diagram Key Yellow blocks are Green blocks are DIGITAL ANALOG 123 346 767 1134 001 1010 1011 110 010 455 913 21 2394 23
- 17. Filter Design: Simulation Sampled signals passed through simulated ideal components Results could even be played out a speaker 123 346 767 1134 1582 1204 895 431 208 150 300 600 1200 1500 1200 600 300 150 FILTER SIMULATION DAC
- 18. Filter Design: Simulation Limits Analog: 20-30 poles Digital: unlimited … except for latency. Maybe 200, 1000, more! Could a computer run the simulation IN THE RADIO? ADC DAC FILTER SIMULATION
- 19. Presto: Software in the Radio LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Is this an SDR? ADC DAC
- 20. DEFINITIONS: Software Defined vs. Controlled CONTROLLED Computer Control of Fixed Capabilities (frequency, band, etc) DEFINED Modulation, Demodulation, filtering, and processing; as well as Control Capabilities Software Defined and Upgradeable
- 21. Filter Shape Factor FLEX-‐5000 Note Brick Wall & Flatness Radio Y Radio Z Radio X
- 22. 500 Hz Brick Wall Filter 6dB Bandwidth 487 Hz, 60dB Bandwidth 660 Hz, Shape Factor ~1.35 4096 Bin FFT and 2048 Tap Filter
- 23. 2.8KHz SSB Filter Spectrum 6dB Bandwidth 2587 Hz, 60dB Bandwidth 2756 Shape Factor ~1.06, 2048 Tap Filter
- 24. Software Demodulation LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Now, is this an SDR? ADC DAC
- 25. Software Demodulation and Baseband New demod schemes added later! Precise Filtering Advanced Noise Reduction DEMOD IF AMP AUDIO AMP FILTER DAC ADC
- 26. PowerSDR - A FlexRadio Original!
- 27. Economics 101 What is the marginal cost of a 2nd receiver in an analog radio? ANSWER: the cost of the added parts (plus amortized engineering)
- 28. What if I want 2 RX? LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER 2x analog components ≈ $2x ADC DAC DEMODADC FILTER
- 29. What are we trying to achieve? Remove distortion Better performance Flexibility to change or add features Ability to tailor the radio quickly Never before possible noise mitigation Never before possible capabilities Can we do more?
- 30. LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER What about this analog stuff? DAC ADC
- 31. Direct Sampling LO DEMOD FILTER AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Now, THAT’s an SDR! DAC ADC
- 32. LO DEMOD FILTER IF AMP AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Why doesn’t everyone do Direct Sampling? 192kHz @ 64bits = 12Mbps 192kHz DAC ADC
- 33. 10Mbps
- 34. Direct Sampling LO DEMOD FILTER AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Now, THAT’s an SDR! 250MHz @ 16bits = 4Gbps 250MHz DAC ADC
- 35. 4Gbps is… 40 - 100Mbps cables 4 - 1Gbps cables That’s a LOT of data! The most modern home networking you can buy, can’t handle this …
- 36. Economics 101 What is the marginal cost of a 2nd receiver in an digital radio (SDR)? ANSWER: the cost of the extra processing power (plus amortized engineering) … think Moore’s law Processing Power = FPGA
- 37. Direct Sampling LO DEMOD FILTER AUDIO AMP MIXER FILTER Now, THAT’s an SDR! ALL of HF digitizedALL of HF DAC ADC
- 38. Direct Sampling NCO DEMOD FILTER AUDIO AMP MIXER How many do you want? DAC ADC DEMOD FILTER MIXER
- 39. Direct Sampling Benefits + Distortion minimized (ADC @ antenna): best signal clarity + n-Receivers, n-Panadapters and varying widths see more bands, more receivers + Extremely high dynamic range: operate in worst conditions + Extreme flexibility through reprogrammability (ultimate SDR): future benefits – Technically challenging to design
- 40. Example Third Generation SDR Architecture dd 7.9Gbps + 1Gbps
- 41. F A T “Our Choices Determine Our Destiny” — A.R. Benard Shortcut to the finish line: Direct Sampling Receiver A PowerSDR et. al. Rapidly bring up a direct sampling receiver Each 192kHz receiver uses 10+ Mbps A full 1MHz of bandwidth panadapter: 73 Mbps Not scalable DAYTON2012
- 42. “Our Choices Determine Our Destiny” — A.R. Benard Building for the future: FLEX-6000 SmartSDR New software, much more work in the radio A full-screen panadapter: <1 Mbps AT ANY WIDTH Scalable, Remotable DAYTON2012
- 44. SmartSDR APIs FLEX-6XXX Windows Computer UDP TCP FlexLib SmartSDR Ethernet API SmartSDR FlexLib API SmartSDR SmartSDR-Windows
- 45. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Continued to hear that knobs/buttons are important Often, existing products maligned for complexity Station reconfiguration time frustrating Integration in SO2R, M/1, M/2, M/M stations a problem The dream of simple remote operation… Maestro The interviews…
- 46. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro Control surface and more…
- 47. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro Control surface and more Essentially a remotable SmartSDR with knobs & buttons Can be used in place of a computer to run any FLEX-6000 Optimized to have just frequently used controls Let’s take a closer look …
- 48. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro Display WXGA (1280x800) 8” IPS Cap Touch Can show one or two panafalls Up to two slices Cap touch, pinch to zoom, buttons and pop-up menus Built on SmartSDR API
- 49. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro Controls Slice A Slice B or RIT/XIT
- 50. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro Capabilities Integrated CW keyer Mic, headphones, line in/out ~6 hours of battery life or plug-in (12V nom.) WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and wired Ethernet (1GbE) VESA mount for Public Safety comms, mobile use, etc
- 51. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S Maestro What’s next? Control of a computer and large display (fairly easy) Multiple Maestros on a single radio WAN use (away from the shack) Who knows …
- 52. SmartSDR v1.3 August 2014 CWX Transverter operation Contest Logger return focus Profile manager Diversity
- 53. SmartSDR v1.3.8 October 2014 Mostly fixes from v1.3.0 Sharper panafall lines lines
- 54. SmartSDR v1.4 March 2015 LAN Remote FM / DFM Memories Performance Optimizations CW Enhancements DAX Enhancements CAT Improvements
- 55. SmartSDR v1.4.3 April 2015 Binaural receive Digital transmit monitor TX Audio play/record FlexControl Enhancements
- 56. SmartSDR v1.4.11 May 2015 ATU Memories First noise mitigation work (NR & ANF)
- 57. Current Software Priorities Noise Blanker DXing and Contesting Maestro v2.0
- 58. TX6G: A Picture is worth 1,000 words
- 59. DXing and Contesting Focus Return for loggers SO2R Integration (N1MM) SO2R in a single radio ! FlexRadio Systems 1.5kW Solid State Amplifier
- 60. Other Presentations Today 1300 Contest Luncheon, Grokking HF Receiver Performance (Room 9) 1400 SmartSDR API and applications (Room 3)