2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)

HANDS-ON SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO EXPERIMENTS

WITH THE LOW-COST RTL-SDR DONGLE

Mark A. Wickert and McKenna R. Lovejoy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150, Email: mwickert@uccs.edu, mrobert2@uccs.edu

ABSTRACT
Input
Software defined radio (SDR) is an exciting merger of digital RF/IF Digitizing DSP Base Band
Front End ADC & DAC Front End Processing
signal processing and wideband radio hardware. The term Antenna
Output

SDR came into more common usage in 1992 by Dr. Joe Feedline
Analog filters Hardware Firmware with Hardware & Software
Mitola, but actually had its beginnings back in 1984 at E- & amplifiers Software Hooks Components

Systems. The ideal SDR receiver consists of an antenna con-

nected to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) followed by a Fig. 1. The SDR transceiver concept in block diagram form.
digital signal processing system (DSPS) to extract the signal
of interest. Low-cost, as in $20, SDR receivers originally
designed for digital video broadcasting, have been available
antenna. Practical RF/microwave circuit design make it nec-
for several years. Giving undergraduate students hands-on
essary to include the flexible hardware block you see in Fig. 1.
experience in this area is needed. In this paper we describe
The SDR hardware platform described in this paper is the
the details of an SDR laboratory experiment for students in
RTL-SDR [1]. This is a very popular platform with a very
a first semester communications theory course. Complete
active user community. The form factor of the RTL-SDR as
open-source SDR receiver software is used to get started, then
shown in Fig. 2 is similar to a large USB memory stick. It
coding of DSP algorithms is explored to process captured ra-
is referred to as the RTL-SDR dongle. In the experiments de-
dio signals generated using test equipment and then actual
over-the-air broadcasts. Being able to write code to process
live signals and then see and hear the results really connects
with the students. Both MATLAB and Python support code
libraries are available.
Index Terms— software defined radio, demodulation,
multirate processing, digital signal processing

1. INTRODUCTION

Software defined radio (SDR) is an exciting merger of digital

signal processing and wideband radio hardware. The term
SDR came into more common usage in 1992 by Dr. Joe
Mitola, but actually had its beginnings back in 1984 at E-
Systems. The ideal SDR receiver consists of an antenna con-
nected to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) followed by Fig. 2. The RTL-SDR dongle with an antenna connected.
a digital signal processing system (DSPS) to extract the sig-
nal of interest. The ideal SDR transmitter consists again of a
DSPS where information you wish to send is input followed scribed here we write software for demodulating a variety of
by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) which directly inter- waveform types. Support functions are provided that allow
faces with an antenna. the use of either Python or MATLAB as the algorithm develop-
The basic elements of a practical SDR transceiver are ment tool. When using Python, IPython notebook is an ideal
shown in Fig. 1. In this block you see both an ADC and a choice for both code documentation and execution [2]. In a
DAC converter, so this system indeed represents a transceiver. future iteration of the experiments, a streaming solution will
Note that the ADC and DAC are not placed directly at the be provided, thus real-time code will be written. At present

978-1-4673-9169-6/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 65

 2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)
we capture 5 to 10 seconds of I/Q signal samples at 2.4 Msps,
and then work with those samples after the capture is com-
plete. Although the processing is not done in strict real-time,
we can listen to the results by playing signals back via the PC
sound system (audio control in an IPython notebook [2]). For
the case of digital modulation, we perform error checking on
the recovered bits using the fact that the transmitted bits are
known in advance. An m-sequence generator running on an
ARM Cortex-M3 device serves as the data source. The first
exposure to the hardware is a test drive the RTL-SDR dongle
using the software app SDR# [3].
In what follows, we first introduce some of the details of
the RTL-SDR and develop a behavioral level model that ex-
plains in a mathematical sense, the inner workings of the de-
vice. The next step is exploring SDR# to get a high level feel
for SDR. Then it is on to algorithm development using either
MATLAB or Python code. Several case studies are provided
that include demodulation of FM and FM-stereo (multiplexed
FM), and finally demodulating frequency shift keying (FSK).
The FSK demodulator will include a bit synchronizer so to
account for the fact that the transmit and receiver clocks are
asynchronous. Concluding remarks, including assessment de-
tails are provided in the final sections.
2. OVERVIEW OF THE RTL-SDR USB DONGLE
The RTL-SDR dongle contains two primary chips: (1) the
Raphael Micro R820T radio tuner and the Realtek RTL2832U
which contains an 8-bit ADC and USB data pump. The orig-
inal intent of this design was for use as a digital video broad-
casting (DVB) receiver. If you look on Amazon you will find
that most variations of the RTL-SDR are sold with a TV re-
mote and some DVB software.
The basic chip configuration is depicted in the block dia-
gram of Fig. 3. The tuner chip serves as the radio frequency
(RF) front-end for the SDR. Following a miniature coax con-
nector for the antenna is a low noise amplifier (LNA) provid-
ing a noise figure (NF) of about 3.5 dB. The advertised tuning
range of the R820T is 24 MHz to 1850 MHz. Not shown
in Fig. 3 are the inputs to set the sampling rate fs and the
tuner RF gain. These two SDR attributes will be discussed
more later. A simplified view of the R820T tuner internals
RTL2832U
From









Ant. USB
R820T
Tuner ADC Data
Noise Pump
Figure 24 MHz – 1850 MHz Obtaining Data Sheet
~3.5 dB (advertised range) Requires NDA
Fig. 3. The RTL-SDR high level block diagram.
http://rtlsdr.org/
is available on the Internet [4]. We learn from the data sheet
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?
Langid=1&PNid=22&PFid=35&Level=4&Conn=3&ProdID=257
that the actual RF tuning range is listed as being only 42 to
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=22&PFid=35&Level=4&Conn=3&ProdID=257
1002 MHz. Information found on the Internet confirms that
the tested range is somewhere between the two extremes. A
frequency synthesizer inside the R820T generates a local os-
cillator (LO) signal which is responsible for down converting
the received RF to an intermediate frequency (IF). The tuning
resolution is 1 Hz, or so it seems from the information avail-
able on the Internet. Gain control is also provided, both at the
LNA and at the output via a variable gain amplifier (VGA).
Information on the Realtek chip is not available, unless
you have an nondisclosure agreement (NDA) in place from
Realtek. This leaves the rest of the SDR open to speculation.
It is the RTL2832U where the digital signal processing (DSP)
takes place, which includes additional filtering and down sam-
pling of the IF signal delivered by the R820T. The ADC pro-
duces 8-bit real/inphase (I) and imaginary/quadrature (Q) in-
terleaved sample values, in an unsigned format. When you get
your hands on the samples they are finally converted to signed
8-bit values and then to parallel I and Q streams. We describe
this further when the behavioral level model of the RTL-SDR
is presented. Finally the RTL2832U contains a USB interface
that sends samples to the PC.
To better understand the functionality of the RTL-SDR we
consider the behavioral level model shown in Fig. 4. A model
of this type allows us to focus on the signal processing details
of greatest interest. In this case we are concerned with the
mathematical representation of the signal flow from the input
to the output. The model shown is linear if you ignore the
8-bit ADC, which is denoted by the quantizer function Q[ ].
r [ n ] = r I [ n ] + jr Q [ n ]
RTL-SDR USB Dongle
8-Bit
r(t) = s(t) LPF ADC
+ n(t) B ≈ 0.8f s
LNA VGA Q[ ]
Osmocom Drivers
2 2 2 2
From To
–fs ⁄ 2 0 fs ⁄ 2
Ant. f PC
Gain Control s
– j2πf c t
(maybe automatic
e or AGC) G
ctrl
2
= complex signal path
Fig. 4. A behavioral level model of the RTL-SDR.
A simple model for the input signal, r(t), is that it con-
sists of the desired radio signal s(t) plus background noise
USB n(t), due to the receiver front-end in combination with the
Interface
to PC antenna. For details on receiver noise modeling see [5]. In
reality, since the receiver has a very wide bandwidth, there
Interleaved
8-bit I&Q
are multiple signals present at the front end. This in fact is
samples one the big challenges of any SDR, in general. From a mod-
eling standpoint, however, we initially assume just one signal
is present.
You can apply superposition to study the impact of mul-
tiple signals, as long as any one signal does not overload the
radio front end. The gain control on the front end serves to
keep the signal processing linear, at the expense of dynamic
66
 2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)

range to receive weak signals. Adding a bandpass filter in written as

front of the LNA can also be considered as a means to reject
G ·LP r(t)e−j2πfc t t=nT =n/f
 
strong unwanted signals lying out-of-band. r[n] = |{z} (3)
s

Following the LNA is a multiplier having LO input AGC

e−j2πfc t . This is a behavioral representation of negative where LP represents the LPF filter action. In the frequency
frequency translation by fc Hz. Recall the Fourier transform domain
theorem
R ej2πf /fs ' G · fs · R(f + fc ) · HLP (f ),


F (4)
x(t)ej2πf0 t ⇐⇒ X(f − f0 ) (1)

and consider the spectrum sketches of Fig. 5. By choosing where fs /2 ≤ f ≤ fs /2. We have further assumed that
f0 = −fc , the frequency translation theorem shifts the input HLP (f ) = 0 for |f | > fs /2.
spectrum to the left by fc Hz. A signal of interest centered The final stage is the quantizer. Knowing that only 8-bits
at fc will now be located at 0 Hz following multiplication by are available to represents the real and imaginary parts, means
e−j2πfc t . From a behavioral level standpoint we assume that that significant quantization noise is generated. Using con-
cepts found in [6], we can approximate the quantization noise
Signal of interest spectrum
impact on the noise free r[n] as an additive noise process. The
S ( f ) = FT { s ( t ) } S( f) signal out of the quantizer is the sum signal
shift left shift left
Bs


f r[n] + e[n] = rI [n] + jrQ [n] + eI [n] + jeQ [n] , (5)
–fc 0 fc
– j2πf c t
Filtering Frequency translate to ~0 Hz using s ( t )e = a complex signal where the signals eI [n] and eQ [n] are noise signals approxi-
removes
this Effective RTL-SDR mately uniformly distributed over one quantization interval of
Lowpass Filtering Usable bandwidth ~80% of fs
Q[ ]. The signal-to-quantization ratio of the r[n] signal is [6]
f
–fc fs 0 fs
--- fc
– ---  
2 2 Rmax
SNRq = 6.02 · B + 10.8 − 20 log10








Spectrum of discrete signal r[n]

Fig. 5. A frequency domain view of the RTL-SDR.
the output of the multiplier, now a complex signal, is passed
through a lowpass shaping filter (LPF) that is a function of the
sampling rate entered into the RTL-SDR. From the sampling
theorem the input signal must be band limited prior to fs /2
Hz. The usable bandwidth is 80% of fs , since a realizable fil-
ter requires a transition band to go from the passband gain to
the stopband gain. All signal processing following the mul-
tiplier is complex due to the fact that ejθ = cos θ + j sin θ.
In the behavioral level model a lowpass filter is required for
both the real and imaginary parts. In the actual hardware this
filtering is split between the R820T, where it is a single real
bandpass filter, and the RTL2382U, where I/Q digital filtering
is likely employed.
In any case, it is worth noting that since the down con-
verted signal is now complex, the entire spectrum from −fs /2
to +fs /2 is unique. This is in contrast to frequency transla-
tion using cos( ) and the corresponding modulation theorem
from Fourier transforms, which says
1 F 
x(t) cos(2πf0 t) ⇐⇒ X(f − f0 ) + X(f + f0 ) .
2
In this case, assuming x(t) is a real signal, the spectrum X(f )
has magnitude that is even about f = 0, so |X(f − f0 ) +
X(f + f0 )| is even about f = 0.
Up to the quantizer, Q[ ], the complex signal r[n] can be
σr
' 6B + 1.26 dB. (6)
where ±Rmax is quantizer dynamic range, σr2 is the variance
or power of r[n], and B is the number of bits used to quan-
tize the magnitude of r[n]. Here B = 8 − 1 = 7 as one
bit is needed to represent the sign. The final form of SNRQ
assumes that ±Rmax = 3σr . Plugging in numbers we arrive
at
SNRQ ≈ 43.4 dB (7)
for the 8-bit quantizer of the RTL-SDR. This may seem low,
but once the demodulation algorithms are implemented, the
signal will undergo filtering and downsampling, which will
increase the signal dynamic range and hence increase the ef-
fective SNRQ value.
To actually talk to the RTL-SDR and capture the complex
r[n] samples, we need software drivers. The source for these
drivers is Osmocom [7]. On a Windows 64-bit PC the driver
are available prebuild from the Osmocom site. When we
study demodulation algorithms, we need to have these files
in the same directory along with MATLAB or Python code.
3. USING THE RTL-SDR DONGLE WITH SDR#
(2) To get started working with the RTL-DSR dongle an easy on-
ramp is provided by using a fully built SDR receiver app.
On under the Windows OS the most popular of these apps
is SDR# [3]. Driver configuration details can be found at [3].
Once SDR# is properly connected we see a screen similar
to that shown in Fig. 6. There are many controls and two

67
 2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)

88.7 MHz (KCME in Colorado Springs) To demodulate FM, the complex baseband discriminator has
Standard FM broadcasting
Spectrum plot
2.4 f c Gain Wideband and Narrow
Upper and lower sidebands Msps Band FM Demodulator
from an HD radio source also
broadcast over the same carrier y B1 [ n ] y N1 [ n ]
r(t) LPF
RTL-SDR N1
B1
x I [ n ] + jx Q [ n ] Try N1 = 10

z dis [ n ] z B2 [ n ] z N2 [ n ]
Mono FM
LPF 75μs
Discriminator N2 Deemp z out [ n ]
B2 Filter f s2 = 48ksps
= supplied components Try N2 = 5 for easy audio
playback

Waterfall plot

Fig. 7. An analog FM receiver for both wideband and nar-

rowband requirements.
Fig. 6. The SDR# app used to get started with the RTL-SDR.

a convenient DSP implementation. At complex baseband the

graphical displays. The upper graphical display emulates a
spectrum analyzer and the lower display is a waterfall display
which is a spectrogram of the received signal(s), with time
scrolling vertically. Sliders on the side of the plots allow you
to make further display adjustments. On the left is where we
enter the frequency tuning information and select what type
of demodulation algorithm to have SDR# invoke. The play
button sets everything into real-time motion.
You may notice that there is always a spectrum spike at
the center frequency fc . This is due to a small dc bias present
in the ADC outputs. If the spike due to ADC bias is interfer-
ing with reception, we can move fc over slightly and then tune
in the desired signal using the Frequency control. With this
technique we let SDR# perform additional frequency transla-
tion on r[n]. In the software we find that this is actually what
is done via mouse clicks on either the spectrum or waterfall
displays. When we click and drag on the frequency axis itself
we change the center frequency interactively. Furthermore,
we can change the filter bandwidth used by the demodula-
tion algorithms by dragging with the mouse when a horizon-
tal double arrow is visible. The gray shaded region depicts
the demodulation bandwidth centered about the tuned center
frequency. This is very nice!
4. RECEIVER ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT
EXAMPLES
In this section we explore algorithm development for the
implementation or various receivers. The primary focus is
FM broadcasting, but many others are possible, including
for example public service broadcasts from National Weather
Serice (NOAA).
4.1. Basic FM Receiver
A basic FM demodulator architecture is shown in Figure 7.
The block labeled discriminator is key to demodulating FM.
ideal xc (t) is of the form
x̃c (t) = cos[2π∆f t + φ(t)] + j sin[2π∆f t + φ(t)]
| {z } | {z }
θ(t) θ(t)
= xI (t) + jxQ (t), (8)
where φ(t) contains the FM modulation of interest and we
have assumed a small frequency error ∆f in the frequency
translation of xc (t) to baseband. The frequency discriminator
obtains dθ(t)/dt, where in terms of the I and Q signals
 
−1 xQ (t)
θ(t) = tan (9)
xI (t)
The derivative of θ(t) is
dθ(t) xI (t)x0Q (t) − x0I (t)xQ (t)
= (10)
dt x2I (t) + x2Q (t)
In DSP xI (t) ⇒ xI (nT ) = xI [n] and xQ (t) → xQ (nT ) =
xQ [n], where T is the sample spacing and 1/T = fs is the
sampling rate. The derivatives, x0I (t) and x0Q (t), are approx-
imated by the backwards difference xI [n] − xI [n − 1] and
xQ [n] − xQ [n − 1] respectively. The complex baseband dis-
criminator has limitations, in particular if the peak frequency
deviation, including the tuning frequency error ∆f , becomes
too large relative to the sampling rate fs , nonlinear distortion
results. We need to be aware of this limitation.
Code for implementing the baseband discriminator in
Python and MATLAB is supplied. Functions for creating fil-
ters and performing downsampling are also available for
Python and MATLAB. For Python we have the module
ssd.py originally written for [8].
The task at hand is to capture 5 – 10 seconds of IQ input
with fs = 2.4 Msps tuned to a favorite FM radio station. Here
we have chosen fc = 88, 700, 000 Hz. We view the spectrum
of the capture to see what’s there. This is shown in Fig. 8.

68
 2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)

20
Power Spectrum in dB

Finally we design the second lowpass filter to capture just

10 Nearby stations the L+R baseband audio. To do so we set B2 = 12 kHz.
Unmodulated HD radio
Nearby station Carrier spectrum
0 overlay
A de-emphasis lowpass filter [5] is also needed to restore
−10
gain flatness to the modulation signal. A one-pole digital low-
pass filter of the form
−20
−1000 −500 0 500 1000
n
zoom Frequency (kHz) h[n] = e−nT /τ u[n] = e−T /τ u[n]. (11)
20
Power Spectrum in dB

10 where τ = RC is a 75 µs time constant. This impulse re-

The signal of
0 Nominal interest sponse corresponds to the first-order difference equation hav-
200 kHz ing input and output x[n] and y[n] respectively:
−10 BW Limit

−20 y[n] = a1 y[n − 1] + (1 − a1 )x[n] (12)

−200 −150 −100
Fig. 8. Spectrum of RTL-SDR capture at 88.7 MHz.
Now we need to choose a the cutoff frequency, B1 , for
the first LPF in Fig.7. Remember we want to keep out of
band noise and interference away from the discriminator if
at all possible. For this lowpass choose a windowed FIR or
Butterworth IIR design. This is followed by a downsample
by 10. Next we pass the decimated signal yN 1 [n] through
the the complex baseband discriminator to obtain ydis [n]. We
observe the spectrum to reveal the various subcarrier signals
that most broadcast stations transmit. Not the treasure trove
of signals we had hoped for. We move to another station, 92.9
MHz, (a commercial station) and repeat the process. Yes, the
spectrum plot of Fig. 9 contains a nice collection of subcarrier
signals. We see the three components of stereo FM [5], L+R
−50 0 50 100 150 200
Frequency (kHz)
The receiver code in Python is listed below:
def mono FM(x,fs=2.4e6,file name=’test.wav’):
# 1st decimation LPF (fc = 200 KHz)
b = signal.firwin(64,2*200e3/float(fs))
y = signal.lfilter(b,1,x) # LPF
z = ssd.downsample(y,10) # downsample
z bb = discrim(z) # discriminator
# 2nd decimation LPF filter (fc = 12 KHz)
bb = signal.firwin(64,2*5e3/(fs/10))
zz bb = signal.lfilter(bb,1,z bb) # LPF
z out = ssd.downsample(zz bb,5) downsample
ssd.to wav(file_name, 48000, z out) # save
print(’Done!’)
return z bb, z out
In an IPython notebook an audio control can be placed in
a cell using, Audio(’filename.wav’), then the output
can be played to the PC speakers directly.

20
19 kHz pilot
4.2. FM Stereo Receiver
L+R
15
at
base-
Here the receiver is more complex as all three components
10
band 38 kHz subcarrier containing described in the previous section must be dealt with. Here
5 the L - R channel information
Power Spectrum in dB

we use a software phase-locked loop (PLL) to track the pi-

0 lot tone and then frequency double it to 38 kHz. Numerous
The 57 kHz RDS
−5 subcarrier spectrum filters are also employed. The complete receiver block dia-
containing 1.1875 kbps gram is shown in Figure 10. The PLL is a supplied function
−10

−15
Other subcarriers block, but the student needs to configure it and then test it.
The recovered audio, shown in Fig.11 sounds like stereo.
−20

−25 FM stereo
component signals 4.3. FSK Receiver with Bit Synchronization
−30
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Frequency (kHz) As a final algorithm design example we implement a fre-
quency shift keyed (FSK) receiver. The FSK transmission
Fig. 9. Spectrum of FM demodulated RTL-SDR capture, originates from a Cortex-M3 microcontroller PN data source
ydis [n] at 92.9 MHz. driving a 70 MHz signal generator. Of special consideration
is the need for a bit synchronizer to properly re-sample the
incoming data bearing waveform [9]. The simple fact is the
baseband audio, 19 kHz pilot, and the double sideband 38 transmit and receive clocks cannot be made synchronous to
kHz subcarrier containing L-R audio. We also see a radio data the point where the clock phase does not cause bit errors. The
system (RDS) signal at 57 kHz, which is digital modulation new portions of the receiver block diagram begin at the output
at 1.1875 kbps. This is used for station information. of the second decimator as shown in Fig.12.

69
 2015 IEEE Signal Processing and Signal Processing Education Workshop (SP/SPE)

75μs
z N2M [ n ] zD [ n ]
LPF z B2 [ n ] L
z dis [ n ] + 5 Deemp zL [ n ] Clock
B2 Remove +1 SCCS
L+R + Filter z N2 [ n ] mean Tracking
Output -1 Bit Synch
z B3B4 [ n ] from Data bits
BPF LPF –
R 75μs sign( )
5 Deemp zR [ n ] second
[ B 3, B 4 ] B 2 L-R + Filter decimator Approximate Ns
samples per bit
PLL (type 2) θ[n] m-Seq
B n = 10 Hz
z bits [ n ] Bit Error Bit Error
cos ( ) Coherent 38 kHz Report
ζ = 0.707 for subcarrier demod Must match source Detection

2
= supplied components SR Length, m = 5
Note: θ[n] is the tracked phase
f q = 19 kHz of the 19 kHz pilot signal.
= supplied components
Fig. 12. Final stages of the FSK demodulator with bit synch.
Fig. 10. Enhancing the FM demodulator with stereo demulti-
plexing.

z N2M [ n ]
0

1
496 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Samples (8 per symbol)
0.5
Left

0
Fig. 13. Recovered 10 kbps FSK.
−0.5

−1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Clearly different! Time (s) terference from one another was something to consider. In the
1 close proximity of the lab, they could see all transmitting sig-
nals and experimented by jamming each other. They moved
0
on to develop algorithms to demodulate captured signals. The
Right

−1 experiments with the RTL-SDR dongle provided concrete ex-

amples of topics presented in lecture and gave hands-on ex-
−2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
perience that was well received. The low-cost, available soft-
Time (s) ware and support make the RTL-SDR dongle a good tool for
demonstrating key concepts. Several students were consider-
Fig. 11. Recovered stereo audio. ing purchasing their own SDR for home study.

6. REFERENCES
The testing requirement is to error detect both 1 and 10
[1] http://rtlsdr.org/.
kbps FSK. At 10 kbps the peak deviation is 50 kHz, thus
a very wideband signal. The short segment of the recov- [2] http://ipython.org.
ered data bits, prior to the hard decision device (zN 2M [n]),
[3] http//sdrsharp.com.
is shown in Fig.13. The short 5-bit PN code is evident. The
tracking waveform, not shown here, does its job of keeping [4] http://superkuh.com/rtlsdr.html
the data clock synchronous.
[5] Rodger E. Ziemer and William H. Tranter, Principles of
Communications, 7th ed., John Wiley, New York, 2015.
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS
[6] Alan V. Oppenheim and Ronald W. Schafer, Discrete-
The RTL-SDR dongle opens up a lot of possibilities for ex- Time Signal Processing (3rd Edition), Prentice Hall, New
ploring communications receiver algorithms and DSP imple- Jersey, 2010.
mentation issues. Students participating in the lab experi- [7] http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr
ments were engaged and eager to explore the capabilities of
the device and the SDR# software. As an introduction they [8] Mark Wickert, Signals and Systems for Dummies, Wiley,
listened to NOAA’s weather station, experimented with filter New York, 2013.
bandwidths, and tried to improve reception. Before writing [9] K. Chen and J. Lee, “A Family of Pure Digital Signal Pro-
code to implement a demodulator, they used a function gen- cessing Bit Synchronizers,” IEEE Trans. on Commun.,
erator with internal modulation to create a custom transmitter. Vol. 45, No. 3, March 1997, pp. 289–292.
As the different teams worked, they quickly realized that in-

70