Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform
Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum monitoring and broadband signal analysis have multiple application areas, especially in the era of a constantly growing number of wireless devices. One of the essential challenges for a spectrum sensor is to achieve an adequate measurement rate over a wide bandwidth to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2022-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9923933/ |
| _version_ | 1811234418169217024 |
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| author | Przemyslaw Flak |
| author_facet | Przemyslaw Flak |
| author_sort | Przemyslaw Flak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum monitoring and broadband signal analysis have multiple application areas, especially in the era of a constantly growing number of wireless devices. One of the essential challenges for a spectrum sensor is to achieve an adequate measurement rate over a wide bandwidth to detect signals of short duration so that a low latency response can be provided. In procedures that require field measurements, and some compromise in accuracy is acceptable, low-cost Software Defined Radio (SDR) devices can be used instead of expensive and bulky professional spectrum analyzers. This paper introduces a real-time swept spectrum sensor based on LimeSDR-USB with custom embedded Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) firmware, designed to outperform similar software implementations. The Welch’s spectral density estimation is implemented in hardware to minimise the USB transfer rate and offload the host PC signal processing. Furthermore, the frequency tuning state machine and cache calibration memory are also managed by the FPGA to reduce the blind time during broadband sweep. The performance of the proposed solution indicates up to 96 MHz of real-time bandwidth along with a capability of less than millisecond cumulative sweep time per gigahertz. The characteristics of various design elements are investigated and refined during simulation and laboratory measurements, whereas the final prototype implementation is verified in real-world scenarios. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed device as a sensor for propagation studies, multiband spectrum utilisation monitoring, and spectral white spaces detection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:35:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5ead0bedae345e0a4e4473c3ccf48b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:35:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5ead0bedae345e0a4e4473c3ccf48b42022-12-22T03:34:51ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362022-01-011011093411094610.1109/ACCESS.2022.32158009923933Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR PlatformPrzemyslaw Flak0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4786-9558Department of Automatic Control and Robotics, Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science, Ph.D. School, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, PolandRadio Frequency (RF) spectrum monitoring and broadband signal analysis have multiple application areas, especially in the era of a constantly growing number of wireless devices. One of the essential challenges for a spectrum sensor is to achieve an adequate measurement rate over a wide bandwidth to detect signals of short duration so that a low latency response can be provided. In procedures that require field measurements, and some compromise in accuracy is acceptable, low-cost Software Defined Radio (SDR) devices can be used instead of expensive and bulky professional spectrum analyzers. This paper introduces a real-time swept spectrum sensor based on LimeSDR-USB with custom embedded Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) firmware, designed to outperform similar software implementations. The Welch’s spectral density estimation is implemented in hardware to minimise the USB transfer rate and offload the host PC signal processing. Furthermore, the frequency tuning state machine and cache calibration memory are also managed by the FPGA to reduce the blind time during broadband sweep. The performance of the proposed solution indicates up to 96 MHz of real-time bandwidth along with a capability of less than millisecond cumulative sweep time per gigahertz. The characteristics of various design elements are investigated and refined during simulation and laboratory measurements, whereas the final prototype implementation is verified in real-world scenarios. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed device as a sensor for propagation studies, multiband spectrum utilisation monitoring, and spectral white spaces detection.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9923933/Electromagnetic analysisfield programmable gate arrayradio frequencysoftware defined radiosurveillance |
| spellingShingle | Przemyslaw Flak Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform IEEE Access Electromagnetic analysis field programmable gate array radio frequency software defined radio surveillance |
| title | Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform |
| title_full | Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform |
| title_fullStr | Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform |
| title_short | Hardware-Accelerated Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer With a Broadband Fast Sweep Feature Based on the Cost-Effective SDR Platform |
| title_sort | hardware accelerated real time spectrum analyzer with a broadband fast sweep feature based on the cost effective sdr platform |
| topic | Electromagnetic analysis field programmable gate array radio frequency software defined radio surveillance |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9923933/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT przemyslawflak hardwareacceleratedrealtimespectrumanalyzerwithabroadbandfastsweepfeaturebasedonthecosteffectivesdrplatform |