Back to results

Virginia Tech

A broadband Microwave Transceiver Front-end for an Airborne Software Defined Radio Experiment

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This document describes the design, simulation, construction, and test of a wideband analog transceiver front-end for use in an airborne software defined radio (SDR) experiment. The transceiver must operate in the GSM-1800 and IEEE 802.11b/g WiFi frequency bands and accommodate beamforming. It consists of a transmitter and dual band receiver. The receiver input is fed by a helical antenna and the outputs are digitized for use in the SDR. The transmitter is fed by a complex baseband output from a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) and its output fed to another helical antenna. The requirements for the transceiver were driven by a spectral survey of the operating environment and the physical and electrical limitations of the platform. The spectral survey showed a great disparity in the received power levels between the signals of interest and potential interferers. Simulations of several candidate receiver architectures showed that meeting the needs of the experiment would require a high degree of linearity and filtering. It was found that the receiver requirements could be met by a single downconversion with high order filters and passband sampling. A series of analyses determined the requirements of the individual components that make up the system. Performance was verified by simulations using measured data of the individual components and lab tests of the assembled hardware. Suggestions for improved performance and expanded operation are made.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Electrical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Blair, Arthur Paul Jr.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • McGwier, Robert W.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Sweeney, Dennis G.
  • Reed, Jeffrey H.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:4441
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/51226

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Blair, Arthur Paul Jr.. A broadband Microwave Transceiver Front-end for an Airborne Software Defined Radio Experiment. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51226