Software Defined Radio: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Today’s exceedingly rapid pace of technological advances makes communication devices become obsolete shortly after they are produced. To keep up with this pace, communications systems must be designed to maximize the transparent insertion of new technologies at virtually every phase of their life cycles. When these new technologies are inserted, the upgraded devices should still be able to communicate with each other and with legacy systems.

The term software defined radio was coined in 1990s to overcome these problems. A software defined radio is a communications device whose functionality is defined in software. In order to maintain interoperability, the radio systems must be built upon a well-defined, standardized, open architecture. Defining architecture also enhances scalability and provides plug-and-play behavior for the components of a radio. Software Defined Radio may provide flexible, upgradeable and longer lifetime radio equipment for the military and for civilian wireless communications infrastructure. SDR may also provide more flexible and possibly cheaper multi standard-terminals for end users. It is also important as a convenient base technology for cognitive radios. SDR also poses many challenges, however, some of them causing SDR to evolve slower than otherwise anticipated.