This document summarizes a presentation given at the Huntsville Hamfest on August 15, 2015 about software defined radios (SDR), remote HF capabilities, and updates on FlexRadio systems. It discusses what constitutes an SDR, the history and technologies that enable SDRs, and how remote HF and the Maestro control interface expand SDR capabilities. It also provides an overview of the Flex 6000 SmartSDR and details on the Global AIS on Space Station (GLASS) project to collect worldwide Automatic Identification System maritime tracking data from the International Space Station.

2. SDR Architectures, Remote
Radio and FlexRadio Update
Huntsville Hamfest: August 15, 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

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

43. Spectrum Display BW
1MHz
<500kbps
1MHz
77Mbps
150:1
Bandwidth
Difference
10MHz
<500kbps
1500:1
Bandwidth
Difference
10MHz
770Mbps

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. GLASS
Project
OverviewMay
2015
Global
AIS
on
Space
Station

53. GLASS
Project
❑ GLASS
Project
▪Global
AIS
on
Space
Station
(GLASS)
is
a
collaborative
applied
research
and
development
project
to
assess
the
practical
value
of
AIS
data
collected
on
the
International
Space
Station
(ISS)
for
maritime
operations
and
worldwide
MDA
❑ Majority
funded
by
CASIS,
an
organization
selected
by
NASA
to
maximize
use
of
the
ISS
U.S.
National
Laboratory
▪Two-­‐year
initiative
beginning
September
2014
▪CASIS
contribution
of
more
than
$500,000
▪All
participants
making
significant
in-­‐kind
contributions
53

54. Rationale
❑ Nearly
all
commercial
ships
are
tracked
using
Automatic
Identification
System
(AIS)
❑ AIS
receivers
are
typically
limited
to
line-­‐of-­‐site
signal
reception
❑ GLASS
to
acquire
world-­‐wide,
real-­‐time
AIS
data
from
ISS
❑ ISS
ideally
suited
to
maximize
reception
of
AIS
signals
and
offers
opportunities
for
upgrades
and
maintenance
by
on-­‐board
crew
❑ Better
information
will
enhance
commercial
business,
improve
national
security,
protect
the
environment,
and
provide
economic
and
societal
benefits
54

55. Team
&
Roles55
4
❑ JAMSS
America,
Inc.
–
principal
investigator
and
project
integrator
❑ University
of
Hawaii
–
co-­‐investigator,
maritime
researcher
and
GLASS
operational
evaluator
❑ Greater
Houston
Port
Bureau
–
co-­‐
investigator,
maritime
consultant
and
GLASS
operational
evaluator
❑ Mare
Liberum
Consulting,
L.P.
–
co-­‐
investigator,
data
systems
and
AIS
signal
processing/analysis
❑ Flexitech,
LLC
–
consultant,
aerospace
radio
communications
technologies
❑ VPI
Engineering,
FlexRadio
Systems
&
Flexitech,
LLC
–
developers,
GLASS
space
segment
system

56. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
Two channels with up to four doppler regions = 8CH
Access to samples from receivers (Waveform API)
Ethernet output to get samples to ground station
Why FlexRadio?

57. Project
Overview
57
GLASS
Data
GLASS
Servers
•Client
Services
•Health
&
Status
•Secure
Data
Archive
User
Assessments
&
Feedback
NASA
Ground
Network
•Raw
Data
•Processed
Information
Equipment
on
the
ISS
consists
of
redundant
SDR
(software
defined
radio)
receivers
to
process
incoming
AIS
signals,
packetize
them
and
forward
the
packets
to
the
TDRSS
for
downlink
to
the
ground.
TDRSS
ISS
ISS
–
International
Space
Station
TDRSS
–
Tracking
and
Data
Relay
Satellite
System
Users
(Evaluators)

58. 58
Express Racks

59. © 2 0 1 5 F L E X R A D I O S Y S T E M S
GLASS
Express Rack Drawer

60. Schedule
❑ Grant
awarded
(September
2014)
❑ Hardware/software
development
(initiated
October
2014)
❑ Equipment
launched
to
ISS
and
readied
for
operation
(late
2015)
❑ System
operation
and
data
collection
(12-­‐month
duration)
❑ Final
assessment
and
report
❑ Project
completion
(late
2016)
❑ Commercial
business
initiation
(2017)
60
6

61. Anticipated
Value
❑ Enhanced
global
competitiveness
❑ Adaptation
to
supply
chain
disruptions
❑ Improved
protection
of
U.S.
Exclusive
Economic
Zones
❑ Decreased
environmental
impacts
❑ Increased
environmental
protection
❑ Decreased
illegal
activities
❑ Expedited
emergency
response
❑ Enhanced
education
and
training
❑ Data
mining
for
societal
benefit
61
7
“Better
information
will
enhance
commercial
business,
improve
national
security,
protect
the
environment,
and
provide
economic
and
societal
benefits.”

62. Waveform API
Examples: CODEC2, D-STAR, System Fusion, PSK31,
RTTY, CODEC2, WSJT, etc.
Open Source Wrapper
Enable development of waveforms on PC
Could remain on PC or moved inside radio
Inside radio runs as a separate process
alleviating open source issues

63. Voice Mode (voice ↔ IQ)
RX
DEMOD
24ksps IQ in, audio out (RX stream)
TX
MOD
audio in, 24ksps IQ out (TX stream)
TX
CTRL
Transmit Control
Registration Mode and services registration
IQ
AUDIO
AUDIO
IQ

64. Digital Modes (data ↔ IQ)
RX
DEMOD
24ksps IQ in/text out (RX stream)
TX
MOD
text in/24ksps IQ out (TX stream)
TX
CTRL
Transmit Control
Registration Mode and services registration
DATA
DATA
IQ
IQ

65. SmartSDR
Introducing D-STAR Capability
For all FLEX-6000s
Both HF and VHF (6700)
via ThumbDV device
Open Source
Expandable
With FLEX-6000 transverter
access, can be used on
ANY band
D-STAR

66. SmartSDR
Digital Voice Interoperability Platform
Waveform API enabler
CODEC2/FreeDV
D-STAR
…more to come!

67. SmartSDR v1.3
August 2014
CWX
Transverter operation
Contest Logger return
focus
Profile manager
Diversity

68. SmartSDR v1.3.8
October 2014
Mostly fixes from v1.3.0
Sharper panafall lines lines

69. SmartSDR v1.4
March 2015
LAN Remote
FM / DFM
Memories
Performance Optimizations
CW Enhancements
DAX Enhancements
CAT Improvements

70. SmartSDR v1.4.3
April 2015
Binaural receive
Digital transmit monitor
TX Audio play/record
FlexControl Enhancements

71. SmartSDR v1.4.11
May 2015
ATU Memories
First noise mitigation work
(NR & ANF)

72. SmartSDR v1.5
September 2015 (planned)
Wideband Impulse Noise
Blanker
RTTY mode
D-STAR Mode
Full Duplex (RX/TX
simultaneously)
DX/Contesting additions

73. Current Priorities
DXing and Contesting
(4Q15)
Maestro (4Q15)
v2.0 (Full Internet Remote,
1H16)

74. Provides SO2R
capability to all FLEX
Signature Series
Transceivers
Contest filters
Antenna switching for
SO2R
“SO2R Box”
Early 2016

75. Cuts the cost of SO2R
contesting in HALF
Eliminate all the
complexities
Simplifies operations and
station construction
Simplifies station
reconfiguration
“SO2R Box”
Early 2016

76. Questions?