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.