Prototyping With SDR: A Quick Way to Play With Next-Gen Communications Systems

In the past, real-world prototyping of communication systems were not very common due to high financial costs and long development times derived from the use of dedicated HardWare (HW) such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and Digital Signal Processors (DSPs). Nonetheless, this implementation is vital because they allow the exposure of problems, such as unexpected system behavior, real-world impairments and design flaws. In spite of this, HW based approach also suffers from lack of flexibility and modularity, which on the other hand are highly desirable qualities.