Software-Defined Radio Demonstrators: An Example and Future Trends

Table 2

Comparison of available SDR platforms.

	MARS	MARS3	KUAR	USRP	USRP2	BEE2	NICT
Year of release	2007	2009	2005	2005	2008	2007	2005
RF bandwidth (MHz)^(1)	70	25	30	5	25	25	25
Frequency range (GHz)^(2)	1.7–2.5	1.7–2.5	5.25–5.85	2.3–2.9^(4)	2.3–2.9^(4)	Fixed (2.45)	1.9–2.4
							5.0–5.3
Processing partition	Off-board	Mixed	On-board	Off-board	Mixed	On-board	On-board
Processor architecture	GPP	FPGA	GPP FPGA	GPP	GPP FPGA	FPGA	GPP FPGA
Connectivity	USB	PCIexpress	USB	USB	GigEthernet	USB	USB
		GigEthernet	Ethernet			Ethernet	Ethernet
No. of antennas or RF paths	2	16	2	4	2^(3)	16	2
Standards aware (RF)	yes	yes	no	no	no	no	yes
Standards aware (baseband)	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Strengths	Low cost	Large		GNU radio	Large	Processing	Standard
		bandwidth		integration	bandwidth	power	compliance
Weaknesses	Limited		Frequency	Limited	Complexity		Limited
	bandwidth		range	bandwidth			availability

⁽¹⁾Assuming no baseband or connectivity restrictions.
⁽²⁾Within a single RF board.
⁽³⁾Extendable through linking multiple platforms.
⁽⁴⁾Wide selection of frequency ranges available.