Front End Technology Front End design – including RF Architecture, Data Conversion and Digital Front Ends – has emerged as a key issue as SDR techniques are finding themselves increasingly embodied by stealth into today’s new products. The radical solution – ‘Pure’ Software Radio, with A/D conversion at the antenna – is not yet feasible at GHz carrier frequencies. However, recent technology advances suggest it may be nearer than had been thought. | Software Defined Radio Edited by Walter Tuttlebee Copyright 2002 John Wiley Sons Ltd ISBNs 0-470-84318-7 Hardback 0-470-84600-3 Electronic Part II Front End Technology Front End design - including RF Architecture Data Conversion and Digital Front Ends - has emerged as a key issue as SDR techniques are finding themselves increasingly embodied by stealth into today s new products. The radical solution - Pure Software Radio with A D conversion at the antenna - is not yet feasible at GHz carrier frequencies. However recent technology advances suggest it may be nearer than had been thought. Software Defined Radio Edited by Walter Tuttlebee Copyright 2002 John Wiley Sons Ltd ISBNs 0-470-84318-7 Hardback 0-470-84600-3 Electronic 2 Radio Frequency Translation for Software Defined Radios Mark Beach John MacLeod Paul Warr University of Bristol In an ideal world a software defined radio SDR would be able to transmit and receive signals of any frequency power level bandwidth and modulation technique. Current analog receiver and transmitter hardware sections are still a long way from being able to achieve this ideal behavior. It is the aim of this chapter to explain why this is the case to present some design techniques for synthesis of SDR RF translation architectures and to consider where the breakthroughs in technology are required if the RF hardware component of the ideal SDR1 is to become a reality. This chapter is structured in four parts. Initially we gather data to define the requirements for the illustrative design of SDR hardware for commercial wireless applications. In the second part we attempt to define the problems that are associated with the design of SDR hardware both the receiver and the transmitter aspects. In the third we consider techniques which may be of value in solving these problems before finally drawing some conclusions. In considering these requirements the chapter is based around the proposition that our SDR must be able to process the major .
