Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO USING DIGITAL MODULATION

TECHNIQUES – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® APPROACH
CHANDRA MOHAN REDDY SIVAPPAGARI
1
Department of ECE, NTUA College of Engineering, Pulivendula 516390, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abstract— Software Defined Radio (SDR) has been one of the new techniques developed to change the way the traditional
wireless communication systems work. SDRs enable us to build reconfigurable and interoperable radios that can be
upgraded for future technologies. Designing a multi-modulation schemes system in term of hardware will cost a lot and
definitely consume power and increase the interference. This paper presents the design of modulator and demodulator
software subsystems of an SDR using MATLAB® SIMULINK® tool for various modulation techniques. The results of
designed SDR system are verified through simulation results. The QPSK modulation technique provides better performance.

Keywords—Software Defined Radio, Amplitude Shift Keying, Frequency Shift Keying, Phase Shift Keying, Quadrature
Shift Keying.

I. INTRODUCTION in the operation of a user connection. There is a need

to deploy a multiplicity of standards within a single
Over a past couple of decades many Mobile device. In a software defined radio, multiple
communication standards have evolved and even waveforms can be implemented in software, using the
today researches are going to develop new standards. same hardware [5].
Different standards of Mobile communication use A SDR refers to reconfigurable or
different type of hardware circuitry. The existing reprogrammable radio that can show different
mobile communication standards are primarily functionality with the same hardware. The
regional and not global. So efforts are going on to modulation/demodulation functions of a waveform
develop systems which can support multiple mobile are defined in software. Today software defined
communication standards using same hardware but technology offers advantages such as improvements
swapping the software. This gave rise to Software or enhancements without altering the radio hardware,
Defined Radio which is a new technology being terminals that can cope with the unpredictable
developed in the 21st century. dynamic characteristics of highly variable wireless
Among the technological innovations, the use of links, efficient use of radio spectrum and power, and
digital technologies is very relevant. The emerging many others. The users can use relatively generic
digital audio broadcasting standards like DRM [1] hardware, and customize it to their needs by choosing
and DAB [2] used in Europe, HD Radio [3] is used in software that fits their specific application [6, 7]. The
United States. An overview of digital audio difference between a digital radio and an SDR is that
broadcasting standards, their frequency bands and a digital radio is not reconfigurable. Although a
channel bandwidth are given in Table 1 [4]. digital radio has software running on it, the
Table I functionality of the components cannot be changed
DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING STANDARDS on air. New technology insertion is not available,
Typical either.
Standard / Frequency Band
Bitrates
Parameter (MHz) (KHz)
(Kbps)
Radio is the backbone of the wireless industry. It
DAB-III 174-230 1536 1152 forms the basis of all the mobile and portable
DAB-L 1452-1492 1536 1152 communication systems we use today. In analog
DRM 0-30 4.5-20 4.8-72 radios, the analog signal is processed at different
DRM mode E 87.5-108 96 185 frequencies by a chain of analog functional blocks
HD Radio 87.5-108 400 300 using analog signal processors and heterodyne filters.
(FM) Digital radios transforms the analog radio signal to a
Today’s continuously changing technology brings the digital signal at some point in the chain with the help
need to build “future proof” radios. If the functions of an Analog-to-Digital Convertor (ADC), and
that were formerly carried out by hardware can be processes the signal using Digital Signal Processors
performed by software, new functionality can be (DSP). The digitally processed signal is converted
deployed on a radio by updating the software running back to analog by a Digital-to-Analog Convertor
on it. Increasing traffic rates, but decreasing amounts (DAC) and transmitted through the antenna. The
of spectrum requires even more sophisticated signal functional blocks in a dual-mode radio, that has both
processing algorithms be deployed on radios. The analog and digital processing is shown in Fig. 1.
increase of variable-QoS, multi-component traffic,
requires complex management of resources allocated
Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
ISBN: 978-93-82702-28-3

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 Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

software subsystem of SDR using Amplitude Shift

Keying (ASK), Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), Phase
Shift Keying (PSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (QPSK) modulation techniques in
MATLAB® SIMULINK® provided in section 3.
Simulation, results and discussions are presented in
section 4 and 5 respectively. Finally conclusions are
drawn in section 6.

II. BACKGROUND OF SOFTWARE

DEFINED RADIO

One of the first software radios was the US Air

Force’s Integrated Communications Navigation and
Identification Avionics (ICNIA) system, which was
Fig. 1 Dual-Mode Radio developed in the late 1970’s. The system used a DSP-
based modem that is reprogrammable for different
The technologies developed for radio platforms. ICNIA’s technology has been the
communication are cellular phones, Advanced foundation for many other military radios.SDR is a
Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Time Division radio communication technology which is capable of
Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple being re-programmed or reconfigured. SPEAKeasy is
Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile a joint Department of Defence and industry program
Communications (GSM), Wideband Code Division initiated to develop a software programmable radio
Multiple Access (WCDMA), Enhanced Data Rates operating in the range from 2 MHz to 2 GHz,
for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and Universal Mobile employing waveforms selected from memory, or
Telecommunication System (UMTS). An SDR downloaded from disk, or reprogrammed over the air
terminal can use any of these technologies, provided [8]. The improvements in DSP and ADC technologies
that it has the necessary software. If a new standard is facilitated the shift to software defined radios.
developed, or if the user wants to switch to a system Modem functions can be implemented in software
that is not present on the handset, the new software with today’s high speed DSPs and General Purpose
can be downloaded on air. SDR base stations take the Processors (GPPs). The low power requirements of
burden of replacing the base station throughout the the processors enable them to be used in hand
entire country off the system providers, by terminals. The increased dynamic operating ranges
dynamically updating themselves. SDR enables the and higher conversion rates of modern ADCs enables
properties like: (i) new features and capabilities to be digital processing at higher bands. The improvements
added to existing infrastructure without requiring in middleware technologies permit software
major new capital expenditures, allowing service functionality to be independent of the underlying
providers to quasi-future proof their networks (ii) The hardware [7, 9].
use of a common radio platform for multiple markets, The structural architecture of common SDR is shown
significantly reducing logistical support and operating in Fig. 2. SDR consists of both hardware and
expenditures. Even though wireless communication software sub systems. User interface provides the
standards are available; SDR is preferable because it required inputs to the data processing system. In data
can be easily reconfigurable, interoperability among processing system modulation and demodulation
different military units, emergency units and coalition techniques are used during transmission and reception
armies, new technologies can be adapted quickly, respectively. The retrieved original information is
easily, and for a much lower cost. passed to user interface during reception.
The paper is organized into five sections. Section
2 describes the background of SDR. The design of

Fig. 2 Structural architecture of common SDR

Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
ISBN: 978-93-82702-28-3

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 Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

III. DESIGN OF SDR SOFTWARE to be designed depending upon the technique used. A
SUBSYSTEM constant input signal is given as message and is
converted into digital form using an 8-bit switch input.
The generalized block diagram of software The 8-bit input word is split into N time multiplexed
subsystem of SDR for any modulation technique is output words using a parallel to serial block, where N
designed using MATLAB® SIMULINK® and is is the ratio of number of input bits to number of output
shown in Fig. 3. The modulator and demodulator bits. These N words are given as input to the
subsystems are shown as blocks and these blocks are modulator.

Fig. 3 Simulink diagram of generalized SDR software subsystem

A. ASK Modulator and Demodulator
In ASK, the amplitude of the carrier is switched
depending on the input digital signal. ASK modulator
is a sub system that consists of blocks as shown in
Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 Rectifier subsystem

B. FSK Modulator and Demodulator

The FSK modulator subsystem is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 4 ASK modulator The carrier-1 and carrier-2 blocks generate two
The two carriers are generated with same different frequency signals. Based on the data input
frequency and phase whereas the gain of carrier-2 is given, these two signal frequencies are switched that
reduced 1½ times of carrier-1. The subsystem of ASK results in FSK modulation. The analog sine output
demodulator is shown in Fig. 5. shifts to alternative frequency whenever the data
stream bit toggles from 0 to 1 and 1 to 0.

Fig. 5 ASK demodulator Fig. 7 FSK modulator

The main Simulink blocks in ASK demodulator The FSK demodulator subsystem is same as ASK
are rectifier, filter and Mcode blocks. The subsystem demodulator subsystem as shown in Fig. 5. The
of rectifier is shown in Fig. 6. BitBasher performs the output of the filters is compared with a threshold of
slicing operation. The rectified signals need to be zero volts. If the output signal voltage is greater than
smoothened to reconstruct the original message zero then the receiver takes the data as 1 otherwise it
signals. This smoothing operation is performed by a takes the data as 0.
series of recursive filters connected in cascade. C. PSK Modulator and Demodulator
The PSK modulator and demodulator subsystems
are same as FSK modulator and demodulator
Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
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 Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

subsystems. In PSK modulator the carrier-1 and states only, it can be any number of states. This
carrier-2 blocks generate the signals that are out of concept is used in QPSK, where the carrier signal
phase i.e. the phase of the first signal is 00 and the undergoes four changes in phase and able to represent
phase of the second signal is 1800 but both signals are two binary bits of data per symbol. This enables
in synchronization. effectively doubling the bandwidth of the carrier. The
D. QPSK Modulator and Demodulator software subsystem of SDR using QPSK technique is
In PSK technique, the phase shift of the carrier shown in Fig. 8.
signal is limited two states but it is not limited to two

Fig. 8 Software subsystem of SDR using QPSK

The subsystem of QPSK modulator is shown in the multipliers. The integrator integrates the product
Fig. 9. Data clock generator block is basically a signal over two bit interval and it is sampled at the
counter with an explicit period of 256 block sample offset of one bit period.
rate. The idea of the Bit splitter is to split the input bit
stream into odd and even bits i.e. In-phase and
Quadrature phase and this is in spatial domain. Hence
the delay calibration must be very precise.

Fig. 9 QPSK modulator

The input data of D-FF1 and D-FF2 are controlled
Fig. 10 QPSK demodulator
by the enable signal from the data clock. Whenever
the clock is high, D-FF1allows the data to output, but
D-FF1 to hold the output until D-FF2 gets high IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
enable bit in the next clock edge. This idea is to delay
The operational performance of the proposed
one channel data until the other channel outputs data
is generated and it is performed synchronously. In the SDR model is verified using ASK, FSK, PSK and
proposed design, all the data bits are in digital format QPSK techniques. The input data for all the
of ‘1’s and ‘0’s. Before taking the product of two modulation techniques is taken as 200 and is
carriers with two channels, I and Q, the voltage levels converted into digital form as 11001000. This digital
of data bits need to be converted to –1 and +1. This is data is the input to all the modulation techniques.
performed by Uni-polar to polar converter block. The A. Using ASK Technique
The simulation results of software subsystem of
QPSK demodulator subsystem is shown in Fig. 10.
Two Coherent quadrature carriers COS(2πfct) and SDR using ASK technique is shown in Fig. 11. The
SIN(2πfct) are applied as one of the input to two generated two carrier signals from carrier-1 and
synchronous demodulators. The synchronous carrier-2 are with amplitude 1 V and 0.5 V
respectively.
demodulator consists of multiplier and an integrator.
The received signal is applied as second input to both
Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
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 Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

positive shifting and 1 when it undergoes negative

shifting. The simulation results are shown in Fig. 13.
From Fig., it is observed that the demodulated signal
is exactly recovered from PSK demodulator
subsystem.

Fig. 11 Simulation result of ASK based SDR

The frequency of two carrier signal is 150 kHz. If

the input data bit to the modulator is 0 then the output
of the modulator is 1V carrier signal and similarly, if
the input data bit to the modulator is 1 then the output
of the modulator is 0.5V carrier signal. From Fig. 11,
it is observed that the given input signal is recovered
without any distortion using ASK demodulator.
B. Using FSK technique
The two carrier signals with frequencies 625 kHz
and 1250 kHz and with constant amplitude of 1V
are generated from carrier-1 and carrier-2
respectively. The modulated output signal is a Fig. 13 Simulation result of PSK based SDR
combination of 625 kHz and 1250 kHz. If the input
data is 1 then the modulated signal is with 1V, D. Using QPSK technique
625kHz. The FSK modulator subsystem gives 1V, Constant digital data equivalent to 200 is given as
1250kHz signal when the input data is 0. The the first input, and the two carrier signals, SIN and
simulation results are shown in Fig. 12. From Fig., it COS are given as second input to QPSK modulator.
is observed that the demodulated signal is exactly QPSK modulation encodes the data based on phase
recovered from FSK demodulator subsystem. angle between two waveforms. These are represented
as In-phase component (I-channel) and Quadrature
component (Q-channel). The simulation results of
SDR using QPSK modulator are shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 12 Simulation result of FSK based SDR

C. Using PSK technique

Carrier-1 and carrirer-2 signal generators
generates two carrier signals with same amplitude
and frequency but differ in phase by 1800. The PSK
Fig. 14 Simulation result of SDR using QPSK modulator
modulator takes the constant input digital data as the
first input and carrier signal as second input. If any
The modulated signal is given as input of QPSK
change at the input digital data then PSK modulator
demodulator and the demodulated signal is similar to
changes the carrier phase by 1800; otherwise it
that of the input digital signal. The demodulated
generates the same carrier signal without any phase
output is recovered from I and Q channel outputs at
change. The modulated signal is given as input to the
demodulation stage. The simulation results of SDR
PSK demodulator. The demodulated output
using QPSK demodulator are shown in Fig. 15.
represents 0 when modulated signal undergoes
Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
ISBN: 978-93-82702-28-3

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 Software Defined Radio Using Digital Modulation Techniques – A MATLAB® SIMULINK® Approach

REFERENCES

[1]. Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM):System Specification.

ETSI EN 201 980v1.2.2 (2009-08)
[2]. Radio Broadcasting Systems; Digital Audio Broadcasting
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300 401 V1.4.1, (2006-06).
[3]. NRSC-5-A In-band/on-channel Digital Radio
Broadcasting Standard.
Fig. 15 Simulation result of SDR using QPSK modulator [4]. Ihmig, M.Herkersdorf, A. Flexible Multi-Standard Multi-
Channel system architecture for Software Defined Radio
receiver. Intelligent Transport Systems
CONCLUSIONS Telecommunications, (ITST), 2009 9th International
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development platform using various modulation Architecture Compliant Software defined Radio
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Interscience, 2000.
performance of the system is also validated. QPSK [7]. B. Bing and N. Jayant. A Cell phone for all Standards.
technique gives better simulation results when IEEE Spectrum, May 2002.
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But the limitations of this technique are carrier techtrans/ datasheets/Speakeasy.html
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end. The software structure design is more important
which must be stable and flexible.

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Proceedings of International Academic Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, 8th Sept. 2013, Chennai, India
ISBN: 978-93-82702-28-3

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