Conference, DSP, Electronics, FPGA

Designing My Very Own ASIC with Tiny Tapeout

First, what is an ASIC? An ASIC is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit which basically means that it is an Integrated Circuit on a single piece of silicon and its use is limited to a particular application or function. An example would be an ASIC to process an audio CODEC or run a specific cryptographic… Continue reading Designing My Very Own ASIC with Tiny Tapeout

RF, Software

First Look at CENOS Antenna Design Software

Hobbyist and low-cost antenna design software have been usually limited to basic theoretical calculations based on ideal EM equations that could be done on the back of the hand. It is only recently that full EM simulation has drifted down to the masses in a semi-affordable way. CENOS Antenna Design software is one of the… Continue reading First Look at CENOS Antenna Design Software

DSP, RF, SDR, Software

Radio Resilience Competition at GRCon21

As part of the GNURadio Conference 2021, the Radio Resilience Competition created a custom competition just for the conference. This is similar to the Capture the Flag (CTF) that has been a mainstay of the GRCon. The cool thing about this competition is that it was not just for bragging rites but real prizes! The… Continue reading Radio Resilience Competition at GRCon21

RF, Software

Simulating Helium with HotspotRF

With any successful wireless system, you want to have some theoretical basis that your transmitted information can reach its intended receiver with enough power to be deciphered correctly. This is the basic idea behind a link budget where you compile information about your radio hardware and setup such as transmitter power, receiver sensitivity, antenna gain,… Continue reading Simulating Helium with HotspotRF

DSP

Adaptive Beamforming with LMS

In a traditional beamforming application, the goal is to design an antenna whose radiation pattern points in a specific direction instead of just being purely isotropic. This directionality can be used as spatial filtering and is achieved in many different ways. One way is to use a directional antenna, such as a dish whose directionality… Continue reading Adaptive Beamforming with LMS

RF

Vivaldi Antenna Design with MATLAB

Diving deeper into antenna design you find really interesting antenna structures based on what parameter you are trying to optimize for. I was looking for antennas that had wide bandwidth and some directionality, to use in conjuncture with my LimeSDR Mini for one of my many projects, that's how I found out about the Vivaldi… Continue reading Vivaldi Antenna Design with MATLAB

SDR

Radio Resilience Competition

The competition, along with its organizers, look to set a new standard in wireless efficiency and durability. This is done by providing a simulated wireless environment and scoring structure that challenges competitors to build resilient and reliable radios. More detailed information can be found on their website. https://radioresilience.com/ The Radio Resilience Competition debuted at the… Continue reading Radio Resilience Competition