Small Form Factor Software Defined Radio (SDR) Development Platform from TI

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. Complete Hardware and Software Flexibility to Create Multi-ProtocolRadios

Next-generation radios require a software defined architecture that supports multiple protocols while providing standardized hardware that can implement a broad range of systems from simple baseband to complex wideband radios. For example, a radio for military applications, such as a soldier radio, may need to support multiple waveforms as it is supplied to different groups within the military. In public safety applications, multi-protocol radios need to be able to support various
emergency bands including police and fire bands.

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 capitalizes on the performance and architecture benefits of TI's TMS320DM6446 system on chip (SoC) comprised of TI's TMS320C64x+ digital signal processor (DSP) core and an ARM9T general-purpose processor. The high-performance 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 VirtexT-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.