A Scalable Low-Power Digital Communication Network Architecture and an Automated Design Path for Controlling the Analog/RF Part of SDR Transceivers

Emerging new wireless standards, the move towards multi-standard transceivers, and ultimately software-defined radios imposes the need for a tighter interaction between digital baseband and analog/RF parts. Software-defined radio transceivers may face more than 400 control bits in the analog/RF. Configuring of the transmit/receive chain to particular standards, monitoring of front-end performance, and dynamic control of front-end behavior requires a tight bidirectional interaction. The authors have developed a generic concept of a flexible and scalable low-power digital communication network in a multi-standard analog/RF front-end.