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Flexible and scalable front-end tuner for software defined radio

Flexible and scalable front-end tuner for software defined radio

Technology News |
By Christoph Hammerschmidt



The Radio Receiver

Figure 1 illustrates the block diagram of a typical radio receiver. The front-end section amplifies via the Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) and downconverts (with the mixer) the signal from the antenna. The signal is filtered and then digitized, after which it is digitally processed for optimal signal quality and demodulator efficiency.  The conditioned signal is then demodulated, and the demodulator’s audio output is routed to the audio output of the radio.

Fig 1. Typical Radio Receiver

Software Defined Radio (SDR)

As shown in Figure 1, all post ADC signal processing may be implemented via an SDR (Software defined radio) approach. For optimal efficiency and simplified design, some of the functions may be implemented in hardware in the front-end.  This is especially true of wide bandwidth signal processing that may be easier to realize in hardware.  In addition, decimation, which reduces the bandwidth of the interface between the front-end device and the SDR processor, can be implemented in the front-end to simplify the interface.  In this case, any signal processing realized in the front-end must be sufficiently adaptable to avoid compromising the flexibility of the SDR backend. 

In an ideal SDR implementation, any signal processing uniquely related to a particular standard should be implemented using SDR techniques. This enables a single radio front-end to be used with numerous broadcast standards through the SDR software.


Heavy Integration Approach to SDR

Although the baseband processing may be implemented in software with SDR, the software still needs to run on some hardware platform. One implementation, outlined in Figure 2, places two baseband signal processing cores on the same chip, each with its own front-end, to handle AM and FM. This architecture does not fully lend itself to the SDR strategy, since more standards exist. The demodulation algorithm is also hard wired inside the baseband signal processing section, hence there is no possibility for adapting to a variety of techniques and evolving standards as desired for an ideal SDR.

Fig 2. Highly Integrated Approach to SDR

World Band Radio

In order to fully achieve the flexibility envisioned by SDR, a more flexible architecture is needed. A stand-alone front-end tuner (Figure 3) capable of implementing all primary analog and digital radio standards (Table 1), dubbed World Band Radio (WBR), has been proposed by Maxim Integrated. This flexible tuner, paired with an SDR backend, enables a single radio platform to receive all global radio standards.

Table 1. Radio Standards 

 

The advent of powerful multicore processors has enabled this approach to SDR. With a multicore processor, the software flexibility required by SDR can be pushed inside the main application processor, where one core can be dedicated to each standard. This simplifies the radio design and reduces cost by more efficiently utilizing the multicore application processor already present in the system.


Fig 3. World Band Radio IC

Flexibility and Scalability

The proposed WBR architecture makes a true SDR possible and is highly flexible and scalable. In the example below (Figure 4) a typical car radio employees three WBR tuner integrated circuits (ICs): one for the main station, one for background scan (searching for alternate frequencies), and one for phase diversity.

 

Fig 4. WBR Scalable Architecture

MAX2175 World Band Radio Receiver

The MAX2175 IC is an advanced RF to Bits automotive radio tuner. This highly integrated tuner uses direct conversion for digital audio broadcast (DAB) and digital multimedia broadcast (DMB) applications, covering VHF Band-III and L-Band. Reception of FM, DRM+, FM-HD, and Weather-Band is supported using a Low-IF and digital conversion to baseband. AM (LW, MW, and SW) and DRM reception is supported using direct sampling and digital conversion to baseband (Figure 5).


Fig 5. MAX2175 World Band Radio Receiver

The MAX2175 provides a buffered differential output of the reference frequency to support multi-tuner systems. The design integrates all key blocks, enabling low-power, tuner-on-board designs with advanced baseband solutions. The tuner includes digital filtering to minimize the MIPS required in the baseband processor to demodulate the desired channel. The resulting I-channel and Q-channel data words are transferred to the baseband via an industry standard I2S digital interface. The MAX2175 IC is available in a 48-pin TQFN package (7mm x 7mm) with an exposed pad. Electrical performance is guaranteed over the extended -40°C to+85°C temperature range.

Conclusion

We have reviewed, at a high level the ideal software defined radio architecture. We discussed the system partitioning steps necessary to enable software control of the baseband signal processing, such that a wide range of radio standards can be received by a single radio platform.


We looked at a highly integrated solution which handles two standards, each with its own baseband processor and front-end. We found that this solution lacks the flexibility needed to fully implement SDR. The MAX2175, Maxim Integrated’s World Band Radio receiver, was presented as a superior alternative.  This advanced RF to Bits automotive radio tuner enables the most flexible and scalable SDR implementation and reduces cost, by more efficiently utilizing the multicore application processor.

About the Authors:

Nazzareno (Reno) Rossetti is a seasoned Analog and Power Management professional, a published author and holds several patents in this field. He holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

Kishore Racherla is a business manager for Maxim Integrated’s Automotive RF product line. He has over 10 years of industry experience and holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Arizona state university.

Adam Heiberg has worked at Maxim Integrated for 4 years with a primary focus on wireless communications development. Previously, he designed high efficiency integrated and discrete power converters and holds several patents in this field. Adam graduated from Oregon State University in 2008 with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. His studies focused on the design of low power RFICs, and his thesis was published as an article in the IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits.

 

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