SDR_Specification_gt_v07_final_(002).pdf

Specification

Software Defined Radio Test Bed

Version 1

3/28/2016

Specification Software Defined Radio Test Bed

1 Scope NRL requires, at a minimum, a 24-node RF channel matrix that is capable of supporting various types of channel conditions in order to design and test the performance of various types of transceivers. The purpose of this contract is to provide a software defined radio (SDR) test-bed for the NRL Code 5200, with the following components listed below:

1.1.Software defined radios (minimum of 40 transceivers) 1.2.Channel emulator (minimum of 24 nodes) 1.3.RF-shielded enclosures to house the SDRs 1.4.Racks to mount the equipment in 1.5.Cables required to connect the SDRs to the channel emulator

Specifications for these components delineated in Section 3, Requirements, below will be developed in coordination with Principal Investigator (PI) led research teams that may include Government scientists and other Contractors.

2. Applicable Documents

2.1 Department of Defense Specifications and Standards

- None

2.2 Other Government Documents2

- None

2.3 Non-Government Documents

- None

3. Requirements 3.1.Base Requirements for Channel Emulator/RF Matrix

3.1.1. The test bed shall include, at a minimum, a 24-node channel matrix.

3.1.2. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support a variety of channel models and shall be capable of accepting new channel models via software upgrade.

3.1.3. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support a 24-node full mesh network where full mesh means every node can communicate with every other node (including itself).

3.1.4. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support ability to run multiple simultaneous networks using any combination of the 24 available nodes.

3.1.5. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support RF input/output connections as well as digital (I/Q) input/output connections.

3.1.6. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support full duplex operation for each of the 24 nodes, for both RF as well as digital (I/Q) input/output connections.

3.1.7. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall be controllable using a contractor-provided control node.

3.1.8. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support a control Application Programming Interface (API) in order for external applications to provide full control over all 24 nodes.

3.1.9. The control API shall be fully documented such that a third party control application could be developed.

3.1.10. The control API shall provide, at a minimum, the ability to control the channel characteristics for each node and the attenuation for each node in real-time and accurately represent dynamic wireless communication network conditions.

3.1.11. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support integration of the NRL Extendable Mobile ad-hoc Network Emulator (EMANE) system. Specifically, the device shall support dynamic control of channel parameters (e..g, pathloss, delay, etc.) via a network interface accessible via Ethernet using and Internet Protocol (IP) connection. A documented control application program interface (API) specification shall be provided that describes the specific mechanism. Parameter changes should engage with a minimum 100 msec latency for a full matric parameter updated set.

The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support external mobility control input via the control API.

3.1.12. The channel emulator/RF matrix shall support external node mobility control input via the control API described in 3.1.10. The specification of node location, velocity, and orientation should be supported for a GPS-referenced coordinate system. This information may be useful for detailed channel emulation purposes to account for ranging effects, Doppler shift, and other channel phenomena. Location should be expressed in floating point latitude, longitude, and altitude values that allow for 1 meter of positional accuracy. Velocity should be expressed as a tuple with a magnitude in units of meters/seconds and GPS azimuth and elevation as a fixed bearing heading until updated. Orientation information is expressed as pitch, yaw, and roll with respect to velocity (with a default velocity of (0,0,0)).

3.1.13. The channel emulator shall support simulation of a platform that meets the threshold specifications stated in Table 1.

3.1.14. The channel emulator shall support a propagation channel model that meets the threshold specifications stated in Table 2.

Table 1: Simulations Threshold Specifications

Key Performance Parameters Threshold Objective

Min speed of platform 0 meters/second (m/s)

0 meters/second (m/s)

Max speed of platform 225 m/s 3333.33 m/s

Doppler shift @ 18 GHz, respective speed 13.5 kHz 200 kHz

Speed increment 1 m/s 0.5 m/s

Number of platforms in full mesh 24 32

Table 2: Propagation Model Threshold Specifications

Dynamic range - Link 80 dB 90 dB

Instantaneous bandwidth 100 MHz 1 GHz

Min analog time delay 33 ns 3 ns

Max analog time delay 3.5 μs 3.5 μs

Analog time delay increment 100 ns 1 ns

Min digital channel delay 3 μs 500 ns

Max digital channel delay 167 μs 1.400 ms

Digital channel delay increment 4 ns 1 ns

Number FIR taps for custom channel model @ 100 MHz IBW, Max digital delay, Full mesh

4 20

Number FIR taps for custom channel model @ 20 MHz IBW, Max digital delay, Full Mesh

20 500

Number FIR taps for custom channel model @ 20 MHz IBW, Max digital delay, Full Mesh

20 500

3.1.15. The channel emulator shall support the analog RF threshold specifications stated in Table 3.

Table 3: Analog RF Threshold Specifications

Min tunable frequency 10 MHz 1 MHz

Max tunable frequency 6 GHz 18 GHz

Tuning increment 1 Hz 1 mHz

Dynamic range – Individual Node 80 dB 90 dB

Instantaneous bandwidth 100 MHz 1 GHz

Tx/Rx duty cycle 100% (no burst mode) 100% (no burst mode)

Number of wideband receive nodes 1 3

IBW of wideband receive nodes 500 MHz 1 GHz

Max RF Input Power -20 dBm -20 dBm

Min RF Input Power -120 dBm -120 dBm

Max RF Output Power -20 dBm -20 dBm

Min RF Output Power -120 dBm -120 dBm

3.2.Base Requirements for Software Defined Radios

3.2.1. The radios shall be compatible with the GNU Radio SDR framework.

3.2.2. Drivers for the Linux operating system shall be compatible to allow operation with the GNU Radio SDR framework.

3.2.3. The radios shall meet the minimum frequency/power threshold specifications stated in Table 4.

Table 4: Frequency/Power Threshold Specifications

Min tunable frequency 10 MHz 1 MHz x tunable frequency 6 GHz 18 GHz

Tuning increment 100 Hz 1 Hz

Time to tune to random channel 10 ms 1 ms

Spur free dynamic range (100 MHz

IBW)

60 dBFS 90 dBFS

Instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) 100 MHz 1 GHz

Phase noise @ 1 kHz offset -80 dBc -90 dBc

Tx/Rx duty cycle 100% (full duplex) 100% (full duplex)

Max RF Input Power -20 dBm -20 dBm

Max RF Output Power 10 dBm 30 dBm

3.2.4 The radios shall allow phase calibration and alignment to support direction finding.

3.2.5 The radios shall be enclosed in RF enclosures as specific in Section 3.3.

3.2.6 The radios shall support 10 Gbps as well as 1 Gbps connections for connecting to external digital signal processors.

3.2.7 The radios shall support integration of a Global Positioning System (GPS) disciplined oven controlled crystal oscillator in order to provide, at a minimum, 50ns timing accuracy.

3.2.8 The radios shall support configurable/removable/replaceable RF downconverter/upconverter such that the RF is mixed to baseband.

3.2.9 The radios shall support full duplex RF operation (i.e. transmit and receive on all RF interfaces).

3.2.10 The radios shall be fully compatible and integrated with the channel emulator/RF matrix and the RF enclosures.

3.2.11 The radios shall be connected to networked power switches to enable power cycling over the network.

3.3 Base Requirements for RF Enclosures

3.3.1 The test bed shall include 24 RF enclosures capable of fully supporting the RF ranges for the transceivers specified in Section 3.2

3.3.2 The RF enclosures shall support a minimum isolation of 80 dB across the supported frequency range.

3.3.3 The RF enclosures shall have feed through connections that support

• RF from 1 MHz to 18 GHz via Subminiature Version A (SMA), Type N, and

BNC connectors

• USB 1.1, 2.0, and 3.0

• RS-232

• Power

• Terminal strip with a minimum of 6 terminals

• 10/100/1000 Ethernet

• 10GBASE-CU direct attached copper (DAC) as used by the Ettus USRP X310 software defined radio

• Dust covers for all ports

3.3.4 The RF enclosures shall include a power strip with at least 4 outlets mounted on the inside of the enclosure.

3.3.5 All of the RF enclosures shall be large enough to fit, at a minimum, a single Ettus

Research USRP X310 software defined radio.

3.3.6 The enclosures should provide adequate cooling to allow a single Ettus Research

X310 to operate for 48 hours without overheating.

3.3.7 The enclosures shall be protected from dust entering the case.

3.3.8 Four (4) of the enclosures shall be large enough to fit an average sized 17-inch laptop.

3.3.8.1 The larger four (4) enclosures shall contain feed through connections that simultaneously support the connections in 3.3.3.

3.3.8.2 In addition, they shall support the simultaneous operation of:

• RF from 1 MHz to 18 GHz via SMA, Type N, and BNC connectors

• USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0

• VGA display

• 10/100/1000 Ethernet

• 10GBASE-CU direct attached copper (DAC) as used by the Ettus USRP X310 software defined radio

3.4 Option Requirements

This section describes the optional specifications for the associated deliverable that may or may not be exercised at the discretion of NRL.

3.4.1 Expand to a minimum of 32 nodes, full mesh, while still meeting all base requirements.

3.4.2 Meet some combination of the objective requirements in 3.3.3.

3.4.3 Meet some combination of the objective requirements in 3.2.3.

3.4.4 Provide and install GPS simulators that provide the analog RF signal to all nodes (24 nodes under base requirements, 32 nodes if option 3.4.1 is exercised).

3.4.5 Provide a minimum of one wideband receiver that meets the threshold specifications on Table 5.

Table 5: Wideband Receiver Threshold Specifications

Min tunable frequency 10 MHz 1 MHz

Max tunable frequency 6 GHz 18 GHz

Tuning increment 100 Hz 1 Hz

Time to tune to random channel 10 ms 1 ms

Spur free dynamic range (100 MHz IBW) 70 dBFS 90 dBFS

Instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) 500 MHz 1 GHz

Phase noise @ 1 kHz offset -80 dBc -90 dBc

Rx duty cycle 100% (full duplex) 100% (full duplex)

Max RF Input Power -20 dBm -20 dBm

4 Verification

The government will conduct an Acceptance Test at NRL in Washington, DC to verify that performance meets or exceeds the Threshold or Proposed value (whichever is closest to the Objective). Requirements will be verified as follows:

NRL will perform a fit check to verify that all components meet the mechanical specifications.

NRL will measure the isolation of the fully assembled repeater to verify that the isolation from the transmitter to the receiver meets the isolation specification.

NRL will perform a power test of all components in the transmit to verify that the components meet the power handling specification.

NRL will perform a visual inspection to verify that the mechanical attachments and connections of the test-bed are adequate for planned operations.

5 Packaging This section is not applicable to this specification.