On the use of an algebraic language interface for waveform definition

Abstract

We discuss implementation aspects of a software-defined radio system that allows the user to define waveforms using an algebraic language interface, currently as an extension to C++. Current software-defined radio systems provide waveform definitions through a combination of a graphical interface, markup language, interpreted script, and compiled code. Regardless of the methods used, the actual executed code generates each waveform via a series of graph-style connections: instantiating blocks and then explicitly connecting ports between blocks. We propose a system that allows the definition of waveforms using a novel text-based algebraic language interface similar to that found in MathWorks MATLAB or GNU Octave. Our system simplifies the waveform programming abstraction by using implicit graph-style connections; it makes extensive use of C++ templates and operator overloading to allow this highlevel abstraction. Our interface is solely an abstraction layer providing an alternative means for coding waveforms in comparison to current techniques, and hence has no more overhead than current techniques. Example code is provided to compare and contrast various methods of waveform definition.

Ultra-Lightweight RPC Protocol Framework with Variadic Templates in C++11

“…Variadic templates, and some other new features, like lambda expressions and initializer lists are greatly appreciated by the high performance community, as they allow, among other things, to use natural syntax for multidimensional arrays, as well as, together with the older template features, to increase performance, e.g., by unrolling the loops computing inner products (see eg. [5], [6], [17], [11]). The new C++ features were also vital in providing the actor semantics for C++ [9] with an internal DSL [12].…”