A low-cost desktop software defined radio design environment using MATLAB, simulink, and the RTL-SDR

Abstract

In the last 5 years, the availability of powerful DSP and Communications design software, and the emergence of relatively affordable devices that receive and digitize RF signals, has brought Software Defined Radio (SDR) to the desktops of many communications engineers. However, the more recent availability of very low cost SDR devices such as the RTL-SDR, costing less than $20, brings SDR to the home desktop of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as both professional engineers and the maker communities. Since the release of the various open source drivers for the RTL-SDR, many in the digital communications community have used this device to scan the RF spectrum and digitise I/Q signals that are being transmitted in the range 25MHz to 1.75GHz. This wide bandwidth enables the sampling of frequency bands containing signals such as FM radio, ISM signals, GSM, 3G and LTE mobile radio, GPS and so on. In this paper we will describe the opportunity and operation of the RTL-SDR, and the development of a hands-on, open-course for SDR. These educational materials can be integrated into core curriculum undergraduate and graduate courses, and will greatly enhance the teaching of DSP and communications theory, principles and applications. The lab and teaching materials have recently been used in Senior (4th year Undergraduate) courses and are available as open course materials for all to access, use and evolve

PECAS: A Low-Cost Prototype for the Estimation of Channel Activity Statistics in Cognitive Radio

“…The PECAS receiver is based on RTL-SDR [23]. RTL-SDR is a very low cost Software Defined Radio (SDR) that employs a DVB-T TV tuner dongle based on the Realtek RTL2832U chipset.…”

Partial discharge detection using low cost RTL-SDR model for wideband spectrum sensing

“…Combining the GNU Radio and USRP in [8] an SDR based wireless system was developed. Work recently published by a team at the University of Strathclyde [9] has shown how the RTL-SDR can be used to perform automated sweeps of the RF spectrum; opening the possibility of using this device to detect PD signals. No previous research was found regarding PD detection using RTL-SDR devices.…”

Software Defined Radio (Sdr) on Radiocommunications Teaching

“…Very popular and known packages as GNU-Radio [4], LabVIEW [5], MATLAB [6], all of them with RTL-SDR support, have been tested for our objective, but we finally propose to use PothoSDR [7] and SDR# [8], which is what the authors are using in the classroom. Alternatives like MATLAB or LabVIEW were discarded due high licensing cost and GNU-Radio was dropped because it needs a working Linux platform.…”