Highly Portable, Low-Cost SDR Instrument for RF Propagation Studies
| Autor: | D.P. Wright, E.A. Ball |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Spectrum analyzer
Computer science business.industry 020208 electrical & electronic engineering Short Range Devices 02 engineering and technology Standard deviation Power (physics) Radio propagation Software Ultra high frequency 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Electronic engineering Calibration Electrical and Electronic Engineering business Instrumentation |
| Zdroj: | IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. 69:5446-5457 |
| ISSN: | 1557-9662 0018-9456 |
| Popis: | Software-defined radio (SDR) instruments can be used to replace bulky and expensive spectrum analyzers for RF field measurements. Using the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment, a low-cost, portable SDR instrument for measuring RF propagation has been created and tested. In the U.K., parts of the very high-frequency (VHF) spectrum have been repurposed for the use of Internet-of-Things devices; the instrument developed here is designed to meet the use case of performing an urban propagation study in VHF and UHF short range devices bands in a fast and low-cost manner. Design of the hardware and software is discussed, as well as the calibration of the instrument. The results of a test propagation study are given for the completed instrument. It is shown that the SDR instrument is capable of performing the study to a high degree of agreement with a commercial spectrum analyzer, thus validating the approach. The readings of the received power taken by the instrument are shown to agree with the readings taken at the same locations with a commercial spectrum analyzer to within an average of 1.4 dB at 71 MHz and 1.1 dB at 869.525 MHz. From the measurements taken, log-distance models were able to be produced with a path-loss exponent of 2.44 and a log-normal shadowing standard deviation of 8.5 dB at 71 MHz, and a path-loss exponent of 4.06 and a log-normal shadowing standard deviation of 8.8 dB at 869.525 MHz. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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