Teaching DSP and Telecommunications with GNU Radio and Low Cost SDR Hardware

Abstract

Software defined radio (SDR) is an important tool for communication research nowadays. It allows for better spectrum utilization and leads to smarter communication systems. Besides, due to its flexibility, research groups have been using SDR hardware platforms for quicker implementation of new algorithms and development of products. Therefore, the availability of flexible and relatively low cost platforms has been increasing and can also be explored in the teaching environment. This work describes the GNU Radio platform and presents some GNU Radio scripts for public use in teaching basic and intermediate level aspects of communications systems. The goal of this initiative is to contribute to the telecommunications community with easyto-follow educational material that is made freely available.