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RF and Communications

Khaled Moselhy

Field Application Engineer

National Instruments Egypt

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National Instruments—Our Commitment

• We equip engineers and scientists with tools that

accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery.

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2014: Celebrating 17 Years of PXI!

70+ Member Companies

1500+ PXI Products

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What is PXI?

PC-based platform optimized for test, measurement, and control

Open specification governed by the PXI Systems Alliance

(PXISA)

PCI electrical-bus with the rugged, modular, Eurocard mechanical packaging of CompactPCI

Advanced timing and synchronization features

• PXI = PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation

• Invented by National Instruments in 1997

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Introduction to Instrument Control

• Use software on a PC to control an instrument

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Instrument Control Buses

• Stand-alone buses

• Used to communicate with rack and stack instruments

GPIB Serial USB

Firewire® Ethernet

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Introduction to Instrument Control Buses

• Modular buses

• Incorporate the interface bus into the instrument itself

PCI PCI

Express VXI

PXI PXI

Express

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Bus Comparison

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Bus Comparison

Bandwidth

(MB/s)

Latency

(µs)

Range (m)

(without

extender)

Setup and

Install

Connector

Ruggedness

GPIB 1.8 (488.1)

8 (HS488) 30 20 Good Best

USB 60 (Hi-Speed)

1000 (USB)

125 (Hi-

speed)

5 Best Good

PCI 132 0.7 Internal

PC bus Better

Better

Best (for PXI)

PCI Express 250 (x1)

4000 (x16)

0.7 (x1)

.7 (x4)

Internal

PC bus Better

Better

Best (for PXI)

Ethernet/

LAN/LXI

12.5 (Fast)

125 (Gigabit)

1000 (Fast)

1000

(Gigabit

100 m Good Good

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PXI—The Industry-Leading Platform for

Research, Measurement, and Control

PXI Controllers

Performance embedded—Windows or RT OS

Remote control via desktop or laptop

PXI Chassis

Options ranging from low-cost, 4-slot desktop

to high-performance, 18-slot rack mount

PXI Modules

>1,500 options from over 70 PXI vendors

Software

Flexible driver APIs, example code,

soft front panels, and configuration

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PXI Embedded Controllers for Research Wide Range of OS Options

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PXI Chassis

• 3U, 6U, and 3U/6U combo

• 4 through 18 slots

• Portable, benchtop, and rack mount

• AC and DC power options

• Backplane adds timing and

synchronization busses to

Compact PCI

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PXI Platform

Encompasses PXI and PXI Express

PXI PXI

Express

The PXI Platform: PXI

Hardware compatible with hybrid slots

100% software compatible

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The PXI Backplane

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The PXI Backplane

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Timing and Synchronization Features of PXI • PXI Trigger Bus

• 8 TTL

• Trigger, Clock, and Handshaking Signals

• System Reference Clock

• 10 MHz TTL

• Phase Lock Looping

• Equal-Length Traces

• < 1 ns Skew

• Star Trigger Bus

• 1 Per Slot

• Star Configuration

• Traces Matched in Propagation Delay

• < 1 ns Skew

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PXI-1045 PXI-8106

PCI Bus

132 MB/s

PXI System PXI Express System

Four x4 PCI

Express Links

PXIe-8130 PXIe-1082

System Streaming Architecture – PXI Express

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PXI Trigger Bus (8 TTL Triggers)

PX

I Exp

ress

S

yst

em

Con

troll

er

Star Trigger

100 MHz Differential CLK

Differential Star Triggers

PXI

PXI Express

SYNC

Control

SYNC100

10 MHz CLK

PX

I E

xp

ress

S

yst

em

Tim

ing S

lot

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I-1

Per

iph

era

l

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PXI Trigger Bus (8 TTL Triggers)

PX

I Exp

ress

S

yst

em

Con

troll

er

Star Trigger

100 MHz Differential CLK

Differential Star Triggers

PXI

PXI Express

SYNC

Control

SYNC100

10 MHz CLK

PX

I E

xp

ress

S

yst

em

Tim

ing S

lot

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I E

xp

ress

Hy

bri

d

Per

iph

era

l

PX

I-1

Per

iph

era

l

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Key Benefits of PXI Express

Increased bandwidth capabilities | Perform previously impossible measurements

Both PXI and PXIe cards in hybrid slots | Greater system flexibility

Uses latest PC technology | Ensures longer system lifetime

Improved timing and synchronization | Higher correlation of data

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Wide Range of Platform Products

50+ Chassis and Controller Options

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Modular PC-Based Architecture Provides Flexible

Functionality

DAQ and Control:

Multifunction I/O

FPGA/Reconfigurable I/O

Digital I/O

Analog Input/Output

Vision and Motion

Counter/Timers

Instruments:

Oscilloscopes

Digital Waveform Generator/Analyzers

Digital Multimeters

Signal Generators

Switching

RF Signal Generation and Analysis

Interfaces:

GPIB, USB, LAN

SCSI + Enet

Boundary Scan/JTAG

CAN + DeviceNet

RS232/RS485

VXI/VME

More than 500 PXI Products Available from National Instruments

More than 1,500 PXI Products from More than 70 Vendors

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Advantages of PXI in Research: Modularity

Software Defined Traditional

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Research Advantages of PXI: Flexibility

Software Defined Traditional

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“The PXI platform from National Instruments enabled the high-channel-

count acquisition because of its synchronization capabilities, small size, and

modularity. As the platform adds capabilities with higher performance

instruments and faster data transfer speeds with PXI Express, we can meet

future requirements and continue to advance our research.” –Dr. Kohji Ohbayashi , Kitasato University of Japan, Center for Fundamental Sciences

Case Study: Leading-Edge Medical Research

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Production Test System

Xbox 360 Controllers at Microsoft

• NI PXI-5124 high-resolution digitizer for

USB communication interface analysis

• NI PXI-4472 dynamic signal acquisition

module for vibration feedback motor

analysis

• PXI data acquisition modules for

general-purpose analog I/O

measurements

• NI PXI-6509 digital I/O module for

general-purpose I/O control

NI PXI-5124

2-channel, 200 MS/s

14-bit digitizer

Challenge: Developing a cost-effective method to capture, monitor, and

analyze the Xbox 360 controller USB signals, audio signals, and serial data

signaling.

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RF Hardware

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RF Signal

Generators &

Analyzers

Switching,

Amplifiers,

Attenuators

RF Vector

Network

Analyzer

Power

Meters

FPGA I/O &

Coprocessing

Multicore

Processing

Optimized APIs

Cellular, Wireless, and GPS

Test Toolkits (802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT, GSM/EDGE,

WCDMA, LTE, WiMAX, GPS, etc.)

Reference Architectures

Soft Front Panels

NI RF Platform

Highly Modular

Hardware & Software

RF Vector

Signal

Transceivers

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NI PXI-5661 and NI PXI-5671 2.7 GHz

Vector Signal Analyzer/Generator

• Measurement Performance • 9 kHz to 2.7 GHz

• 20 MHz real-time bandwidth

• 80 dB SFDR

• 50 ppb frequency accuracy

• -135dBm/Hz noise density (< 1GHz)

• 20 MHz wideband DDC

• I/Q Power Triggering

• Continuous Data Streaming

• Software Defined Modulation

– ASK, FSK, MSK, GMSK, PSK, QPSK, π/4 DQPSK, QAM, AM, FM, PM, OFDM, Custom

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6.6 GHz RF Instruments

PXIe-5663 VSA

• Single stage heterodyne downconverter

• 10 MHz to 6.6 GHz

• 50 MHz Instantaneous BW (3 dB)

• -110 dBc phase noise (10 kHz) at 1 GHz

• -158 dBm/Hz typical DANL at 1 GHz

• Up to 80 dB SFDR

PXIe-5673 VSG

• Direct (homodyne) RF upconversion

• 85 MHz to 6.6 GHz

• >100 MHz Instantaneous BW

• -110 dBc phase noise (10 kHz) at 1 GHz

• Up to +10 dBm RF output power

• On-the fly impairments API

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NI PXIe-5653

Local Oscillator

NI PXIe-5605

Downconverter

NI PXIe-5622

Digitizer

Frequency Range 20 Hz to 14 GHz

Analysis Bandwidth 25 or 50 MHz

Phase Noise -129 dBc/Hz

Noise Floor -165 dBm/Hz

• 15X faster measurements than equivalent

traditional rack-and-stack VSA at a significantly

lower cost

NI PXIe-5781R

2x2 IF transceiver

40 MHz, 14-/16-bit in/out

NI PXI-5630

6 GHz VNA

>100 dB dynamic range

NI PXIe-5665: 14 GHz

RF Vector Signal Analyzer

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Spectrum Monitoring & Over-The-Air Signal Analysis NI PXIe-5667 7GHz Spectrum Monitoring Receiver

• 20 Hz to 7 GHz frequency range

• Dynamic Range > 110dB and Noise

Figure < 12dB

• Up to 50 MHz instantaneous

bandwidth

• Second-order intercept of 80 dBm and

third-order intercept >17dBm

• RF spectrum with scan rates of up to

30 GHz/sec

• Real-time signal analysis & advanced

signal processing in FPGA hardware

using FlexRIO products

NI PXIe-5667 Specifications

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World’s First Vector Signal Transceiver NI PXIe-5644R 6 GHz VST

• VSA and VSG w/ independent LOs

• 65 MHz to 6 GHz frequency range

• 80 MHz instantaneous bandwidth

• 24 DIO lines @ 250 Mbps

• Programmable FPGA w/LabVIEW

• Small footprint (3 PXIe slots)

• Support for the latest wireless standards (802.11ac and LTE)

NI PXIe-5644R Vector Signal Transceiver

Specifications

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NI PXIe 5646R – 200MHz RF bandwidth

6GHz Vector Signal Transceiver • Specifications

• 65 MHz – 6.0 GHz frequency coverage

• VSG & VSA with independent LOs

• 200 MHz instantaneous bandwidth

• 24 lines of DIO at up to 250 Mbps

• Baseband I/Q interface

• Features • User accessible LV FPGA target

• Support for MIMO configurations

• Small footprint

• Support for the latest RF & wireless standards such as 802.11ac and LTE advanced

NEW!

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RF & Microwave PXI Modules Phase Matrix

PXI-1410 Preselector and Attenuator

40 MHz YTF and 70 dB step attenuator

PXI-1420 Microwave Downconverter

Converts 2.7 GHz -26.5 GHz signals with

350 MHz bandwidth to a 250 MHz IF

PXI-1430 RF Downconverter

Converts 100 kHz - 2.9 GHz with 40 MHz

bandwidth to a 250 MHz IF

PXI-1440 IF Downconverter

Converts 250 MHz to 25 MHz with either a 8 MHz or 30 kHz bandwidth.

PXI-1450 Local Oscillator

3 to 9 GHz, low-phase noise, fast tuning synthesizer using QuickSyn® technology

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26.5 GHz Vector Signal Analzyer

• -118 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10 kHz offset from 1 GHz (typical)

• Wideband (350 MHz) and narrowband (30 kHz and 8 MHz) IF outputs

• YIG preselector filter and programmable attenuator

• 100 kHz to 26.5 GHz

frequency range

• Fast-tuning local

oscillator (<1 ms)

• ±1.5 dB amplitude

accuracy (typical)

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20 GHz Signal Generator QuickSyn Technology

Frequency Range

Options

• 100 MHz - 10 GHz

• 200 MHz - 20 GHz

• 50- 100 μs switching

• AM, FM, Pulse

Modulation

• Low Phase Noise,

Fast Switching, and

Low Spurs

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RIO, FPGA, and Peer-to-Peer Technology

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Introduction to FPGA Technology • What is an FPGA?

o Field programmable gate array (FPGA)

o A silicon chip with unconnected gates

o Enables user to define and re-define functionality

• How does an FPGA work?

o Defines behavior in software

o Compiles and download to the hardware

o Executes without OS

• When is an FPGA used?

o Custom hardware or ICs, replacement for ASICs

o Reconfiguration required after deployment

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Decision Making in Software

• Traditional System

I/O

Operatin

g S

ystem

Driv

er AP

I

Applicatio

n S

oftw

are

Calcu

lation

~25 ms

Response

Outputs

UUT

Crash Possible

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Decision Making in Hardware

• LabVIEW FPGA System

I/O

Operatin

g S

ystem

Driv

er AP

I

Applicatio

n S

oftw

are

Calcu

lation

25 ns*

Response

Outputs

UUT

* Assumes 40 MHz clocks

Highest

Reliability

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LabVIEW FPGA System

Reconfigurable I/O (RIO) Hardware

LabVIEW FPGA Module

NI-RIO Driver

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LabVIEW FPGA RF Communications Library

• Modulators

• Demodulators

• Channel Encoders

• Channel Decoders

• Phase Locked Loop

• Fractional Resamplers

• Filters

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NI RF RIO Modules

NI PXIe-5641R RIO IF Transceiver • 2 IF Inputs and 2 IF Outputs

• 14-bit ADCs and DACs

• 20 MHz Instantaneous

Bandwidth (25 MS/s I/Q)

• IFs from 3 to 80 MHz

• Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T

LabVIEW-programmable

FPGA

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NI FlexRIO System Architecture

• Synchronization

• Clocking/triggers

• Power/cooling

• Data streaming

PXI Platform NI FlexRIO FPGA Module

• Virtex-5 FPGA

• 132 digital I/O lines

• Up to 512 MB of DRAM

NI FlexRIO Adapter Module

• Interchangeable I/O

• Analog or digital

• NI FlexRIO Adapter

Module Development Kit

(MDK)

PXI/PXIe

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Peer to Peer (P2P) Technology • Method to transfer data directly between hardware devices

• Streaming data through Processor not required

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NI FlexRIO P2P Architecture

• >800 MB/s one way

• >700 MB/s each way

• ~10 µs latency

• Up to 16 streams per

FPGA

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The NI USRP™ (Universal Software Radio Peripheral)

The Software Defined Radio Approach

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NI USRP™ Radio Prototyping Platform Software Defined Radio Based on LabVIEW

• Host-based processing simplifies signal processing

• Immediate access to real-world signals

• 20 MHz of real-time bandwidth makes the solution

available to a wide range of applications

• Flexible

• Easy to use

• Affordable

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NI USRP

1 Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity

Plug-and-play capability

Up to 25 MS/s baseband I/Q

streaming

Tunable RF Transceiver

Front Ends Frequency Range

50 MHz–2.2 GHz (NI USRP-2920)

2.4 GHz and 5.5 GHz (NI USRP-2921)

Signal Processing

and Synthesis NI LabVIEW to develop

and explore algorithms

NI LabVIEW Modulation

Toolkit and other LabVIEW

add-ons to simulate or

process live signals

Applications

FM Radio

TV

GPS

GSM

ZigBee

Safety Radio

OFDM

Passive Radar

Dynamic Spectrum Access

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NI USRP Research Applications

Academic to Industry

• Rapid prototyping

• Physical layer design

• Record and playback

• GPS simulator

• Academic education

• Communications intelligence

• Surveillance

• Deployable radio

Record and Playback

2x2 MIMO

Safety Radio

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Digital Communication System

So

urc

e C

od

ing

Ch

an

nel C

od

ing

Mo

du

lati

on

Up

co

nvers

ion

Do

wn

co

nvers

ion

Dem

od

ula

tio

n

Ch

an

ne

l D

ec

od

ing

So

urc

e D

eco

din

g

Communications Channel

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Digital Communication System

NI Modulation Toolkit

NI Modulation Toolkit

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NI Modulation Toolkit

NI Modulation Toolkit

NI USRP

NI USRP

Digital Communication System

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NI USRP-2920 Hardware Diagram

Analog RF Transceiver Fixed Function FPGA PC

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GPS Simulation and Test

Things to Simulate

• Poor signal strength

• View of satellites obstructed

• Position constantly changing

NI USRP-2920

Generates Signal

GPS Toolkit Creates

Signal in LabVIEW GPS Receiver

GPS receiver behaves as if

it sees real satellites

Precision Clock (10 MHz OCXO)

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GPS Record and Playback

• Record and play back up to 20 MHz of bandwidth

• Take advantage of repeatable testing of algorithms/devices on

realistic data set

• Supplement a PXI lab with low-cost playback at your desk

Re

co

rd

Pla

yb

ac

k

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MIMO Radio Prototyping

• Plug-and-play 2x2 MIMO

• Driver-based

synchronization

• Reference designs available

• Maximal Ratio Combining

• Alamouti Coding

2x2 MIMO - Alamouti Coding

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NI USRP Research Case Study:

Cognitive Radio and White Space

LabVIEW Graphical System Design

• Spectral sensing with blind detection

• GPS geographic localization

• Adaptive spectrum utilization

“LabVIEW software and the NI USRP hardware are key

components of this research project, allowing the team

to rapidly prototype and successfully deploy the first

cognitive radio test bed of this kind.”—Dr. Paulo

Marques, COGEU

Aveiro, Portugal

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RF/COMMUNICATIONS

EDUCATION

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Digital Communications Bundle

Key Benefits

• Affordable

• Accessible

• NI Supported

• TX and RX Real RF Signals

• Scales to Research

Target Courses

• Communication Systems

• Digital and Wireless

Communications

• Software Defined Radio (SDR)

Bundle Contents

• Two NI USRP-2920 + Toolkits

• MIMO Cable

• Digital Comm Lab Manual

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Lab Ready| Packet Radio and OFDM

Communications Systems Labs

by Dr. Sachin Katti, Stanford

1 Source Coding

2 Packet Communication,

Sync, and Channel

Correction

3 Modulation

4 Demodulation

5 Design Challenge:

Packet-Based

Transceiver

Digital Communications Labs

by Dr. Robert Heath, UT Austin

1 QPSK AWGN Simulator

2.1 Modulation/Demodulation

2.2 Pulse Shaping

3 Energy Detection

4 Equalization

5 Frame Detection

6 Intro to OFDM

7 Frequency Correction &

Sync

8 OFDM Channel Coding

(FREE: ni.com/courseware) (Ships in Bundle)

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Source: Stanford EE 49: Teaching Evaluations (Spring Quarter 2011)

NI USRP at Stanford University

Awesome class! I really enjoyed the lectures, where

I learned a lot, and the labs were really cool because

we got to use the hardware.

… I am glad that I took this class!

“ “

Student Course Feedback:

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NI USRP at Stanford University

…with the NI USRP, we’re able to

provide exposure in introductory

courses for the first time.

“ “

Dr. Sachin Katti

[ Electrical and Computer Engineering]

Students rated the class 4.94/5.0,

likely making it one of the highest

ratings among all classes in the

School of Engineering at Stanford.

“ “

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RF System Design and Validation

• Rapidly prototype and test new standards

• Create repeatable real-world stimulus

• Characterize receiver performance

• FM Radio

• GPS

• And more…

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Concurrent Design and Test

Design Test

System Design

Component Design Component Test

System Test

Implementation

Verification/Validation

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NI ELVIS: baseband telecommunications training tool (ideal for

technician training at baseband frequencies)

NI USRP: relevant, hands-on and accessible laboratory learning in

RF and Communications as an off-the-shelf, affordable solution

(physical layer prototyping and ‘relative’ measurement)

NI PXI RF: precise/calibrated RF measurements and test (ideal for

precision and high bandwidth education and applications).

Evaluating the Options

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Summary

• LabVIEW offers a graphical approach to shorten the design process and tight hardware/software integration for seamless transition from design to test

• NI provides a full spectrum of RF/communications solutions: RF test, research, and education

• LabVIEW and NI USRP form an accessible, easy-to-use software defined radio platform

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