Overview
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) are not new or novel. In fact, SDRs were first introduced in 1991 by Joseph Mittola who published the 1992 seminal research paper that presented the world to the concept of a “software” defined radio (1). Mittola’s concept outlined a vision where a radio would transmit and receive wireless signals using one specific set of parameters, and that users could re-program, “on-the-fly,” the underlying hardware to instantly change the profile to different modulation, bandwidth, filtering, or frequency to communicate with another device or SDR – making the possibilities endless. Industry observers may argue the relevance and impact of SDRs over the last 20+ years; however, the recent acceleration of SDR adoption is quite relevant, progressing in-step with the advancements in software, processing technologies, and radio transceivers. Perhaps, SDRs are just now coming of age. Why the gap of more than 20 years from nascent concept to commercial adoption and deployment? Understanding this transition and time span is key to definitively defining SDRs. Basic definitions do not tell the whole story.
No comments:
Post a Comment