SDR Development Platform
Texas Instruments Incorporated’s small form factor Software Defined Radio (SDR)
Development Platform was developed in collaboration with Xilinx Inc. and other
third
TI's SDR development platform makes rapid development and optimization of
multi-protocol radios possible. |
parties. It provides the entire signal chain hardware from antenna to baseband
as well as a software board support package that supports a complete suite of
software development tools in a single integrated development platform. With the
kit, developers can easily design waveforms as well as create and test single
or multi-protocol radios for applications in military, public safety, commercial,
Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) and land mobile radio (LMR) communication systems
as well as RFID readers. Additionally, as the platform is integrated to work with
Simulink model-based design tool, developers have the option to use C/HDL or MATLAB
Simulink to quickly test proof-of-concept designs and then optimize the architecture
for cost and power.
Unlike other SDR development offerings in the market, the SDR Development Platform
is a hardware/software co-development environment that supplies the full signal
chain for a multi-protocol software defined radio, including RF front-end module,
A/D and D/A data conversion module and digital processing module. By separating
out the baseband, IF and RF as distinct modules rather than as a single fixed
architecture, developers are able to extend their radio development capabilities,
as well as optimize for cost and power consumption, by substituting their own
or third party modules. This flexibility is vital, as it gives developers the
ability to adjust their products around the industry’s constantly varying requirements.
The digital processing module includes TI’s TMS320DM6446 system on chip (SoC)
comprised of the company’s TMS320CC64x+™ DSP core and an ARM9 general-purpose
processor (GPP). The DSP core streamlines complex signal processing, while the
GPP supports network and application processing. Because the DM6446 device is
equipped with both a DSP and ARM on a single chip, developers benefit from reduced
system space and cost. Additionally, TI’s DM6446 SoC comes complete with a full
set of peripherals necessary for SDR, including serial ports, USB and Ethernet
connections and DDR2 and NAND flash memory. The module also comes with a Xilinx
Virtex™-4 FPGA for modem co-processing and acceleration functions. The use
of the Xilinx Virtex-4 SX35 gives developers enough performance headroom with
low enough power to implement custom IP and acceleration functions that have varying
requirements from one protocol to another supported on the same hardware.
The data conversion module includes two ADS5500 A/D converters, offering 14-bits
performance at 125 Ms/s and one DAC5687, a 16-bit dual channel digital to analog
data converter with 500 Ms/s performance from TI. The standard RF module included
in the kit covers from 360 to 960 MHz with a selectable 5 MHz or 20 MHz bandwidth,
supporting a wide range of applications.
Texas Instruments
P.O. Box 1443, MS 722
Houston, TX, 77251-1443
© 2008 Advantage Business Media
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