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Design of Software Defined Radio for SuperDARN Radar

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dc.contributor.authorKennedy, Paulen
dc.contributor.committeechairRuohoniemi, J. Michaelen
dc.contributor.committeememberMcGwier, Robert W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberEarle, Gregory D.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBaker, Joseph B. H.en
dc.contributor.departmentElectrical and Computer Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-08T18:50:24Zen
dc.date.available2019-06-08T18:50:24Zen
dc.date.issued2019en
dc.description.abstractSoftware defined radio (SDR) is a rapidly developing field enabled by continuing improvements in digital electronics. Software defined radio has been used extensively in communication systems due to its flexibility and cost effectiveness. Recently, SDR has been incorporated into radar systems, particularly for ionospheric research. This study investigated the benefits and design of a high frequency (HF) SDR receiver for the next generation of Super Dual Auroral Network (SuperDARN) radars. This work analyzed digital beamforming and waveform design approaches that would be enabled by the adoption of a SDR based radar design and found that these techniques could improve the performance of SuperDARN radars. This work also developed a prototype receiver to demonstrate the feasibility of a SDR based SuperDARN radar. The hardware selection for this receiver leveraged low-cost commercial off-the-shelf software defined radios and amplifier designs supplemented by custom filters. The software implementation utilized GNU Radio, an open source SDR and signal processing platform, to process and record receiver data. A prototype was successfully designed and constructed using the Red Pitaya software defined radio. This prototype included a 4 channel receiver which was evaluated in the laboratory setting and tested at the Blackstone, Virginia radar site. A comparison of results from the prototype receiver and the existing hardware showed promise for the use of this platform in future ionospheric research.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralSoftware defined radio (SDR) is a rapidly developing field which uses software to perform radio signal processing traditionally accomplished by hardware components. Software defined radio has been used extensively in communication systems due to its flexibility and cost effectiveness. Recently, SDR has been incorporated into radar systems, particularly for space science research. This study investigated the benefits and design of a SDR receiver for the next generation of Super Dual Auroral Network (SuperDARN) radars. This work analyzed radar design approaches that would be enabled by the adoption of a SDR framework and found techniques that could improve the performance of SuperDARN radars. This work also developed a prototype receiver using low-cost commercial off-the-shelf software defined radios to demonstrate the feasibility of a SDR based SuperDARN radar. A prototype was successfully designed and constructed using the Red Pitaya software defined radio. This prototype was evaluated in the laboratory setting and tested at the Blackstone, Virginia radar site. A comparison of results from the prototype receiver and the existing hardware showed promise for the use of this platform in future space science research.en
dc.description.degreeM.S.en
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/89908en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectSoftware radioen
dc.subjectHF Radaren
dc.subjectSuperDARNen
dc.subjectRed Pitayaen
dc.titleDesign of Software Defined Radio for SuperDARN Radaren
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineElectrical Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameM.S.en

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