Introduction to Xilinx Zynq Families based Software Defined Radio

Software defined radio as a name suggest is a trending technology in the field of Wireless radio communication system which defines all the radio standards like GSM , UMTS ,LTE , Open Air Interface, Wi-Fi , Bluetooth etc in terms of software without any modification in the hardware. Thus analyzing all the standards in just a single terminal.

Hence there is a need for a processor which can reconfigure the programs faster with change in the real time application. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) plays an important role in such scenario. It can reprogram the application faster at run time based on the multiple combinations of the logic gates. It also processes multiple functions at run time. The older versions of Ettus USRP have older version Xilinx board.

Why Xilinx Zynq?

Large number of logic gates , hence performance increases
Reduces the power consumption
Integrate the digital signal processing ,thus emerging programmable systems integration requirements of wireless, broadcast, medical and military applications
Increase in the logic density.

List of Ettus USRP based on Zynq FPGA board:

USRP E310 /E312 /E313.
USRP E320
USRP N310
USRP N320 / USRP N321

USRP E310

The USRP E310 offers a portable stand-alone SDR platform designed for field deployment. The flexible 2×2 MIMO AD9361 transceiver from Analog Devices provides up to 56 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth and spans frequencies from 70 MHz – 6 GHz to cover multiple bands of interest.

Dimension : 133 x 68 x 26.4 mm
Xilinx Zynq 7020 SoC: 7 Series FPGA with ARM Cortex A9 667 MHz (SG1) or 866 MHz (SG3) dual-core processor
Analog Devices AD9361 RFIC direct-conversion transceiver
Frequency range: 70 MHz – 6 GHz
Up to 56 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth
2×2 MIMO transceiver
Up to 10 MS/s sample data transfer rate to ARM processor
RX, TX filter banks
Integrated GPS receiver
9-axis inertial measurement unit
RF Network on Chip (RFNoC) FPGA development framework support
Current Hardware Revision: 1
Minimum version of UHD required: 3.8.0

USRP E312

Battery Operated
Xilinx Zynq 7020 SoC: 7 Series FPGA with ARM Cortex A9 866 MHz dual-core processor
Current Hardware Revision: 1
Minimum version of UHD required: 3.8.5

USRP E313

Rugged and weatherproof for outdoor deployment
Fully assembled IP67-rated enclosure with USRP E310 inside
Extensive environmental testing
Power over Ethernet (PoE) with surge and lightning protection
Xilinx Zynq 7020 SoC: 7 Series FPGA with ARM Cortex A9 866 MHz dual-core processor
Current Hardware Revision: 1
Minimum version of UHD required: 3.8.0

USRP E320

The USRP E320 brings performance to embedded software defined radios by offering four times more FPGA resources compared to the USRP E31x devices. The USRP E320 also introduces improvements in streaming, synchronization, integration, fault-recovery, and remote management capability. This field deplorable SDR continues to use the flexible 2×2 MIMO AD9361 transceiver from Analog Devices, which covers frequencies from 70 MHz – 6 GHz and provides up to 56 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.

Xilinx Zynq 7045 SoC
- 7 Series FPGA with 2GB DDR3 RAM
- ARM Cortex A9 800 MHz dual-core processor
Analog Devices AD9361 RFIC direct-conversion transceiver
Frequency range: 70 MHz – 6 GHz
Up to 56 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth
2×2 MIMO transceiver
Up to 10 MS/s sample data transfer rate to ARM processor
Up to 61.44 MS/s sample data transfer to host (10Gb/SFP+)
RX, TX filter banks
Integrated GPSDO
9-axis inertial measurement unit
RF Network on Chip (RFNoC) FPGA development framework support
Board-only and Full Enclosure Options
Current Hardware Revision: 1
Minimum version of UHD required: 3.14.0.0

USRP N310 :

The USRP N310 is a networked software defined radio that provides reliability and fault-tolerance for deployment in large scale and distributed wireless systems. This device simplifies control and management of a network of radios by introducing the unique capability to remotely perform tasks such as debugging, updating software, rebooting, and factory resetting, self-testing, and monitoring system health. The USRP N310 is an all-in-one device that includes two AD9371 transceivers, the Zynq-7100 SoC baseband processor, two SFP+ ports, a built-in GPSDO module, and various other peripheral and synchronization features.

Xilinx Zynq-7100 FPGA SoC
Dual-core ARM A9 800 MHz CPU
4 RX, 4TX in half-wide RU form factor with two internal Local Oscillator.
10 MHz – 6 GHz extended frequency range
Up to 100 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth per channel
RX, TX filter bank
16 bit ADC, 14 bit DAC
Configurable sample rates: 122.88, 125, and 153.6 MS/s
Two SFP+ ports (1 GbE, 10 GbE, Aurora)
RJ45 (1 GbE)
10 MHz clock reference
PPS time reference
External RX, TX LO input ports
Built-in GPSDO
1 Type A USB host port
1 micro-USB port (serial console, JTAG)
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) v1.2
Watchdog timer
Open Embedded Linux
High channel density
Reliable and fault-tolerant deployment
Remote management capability
Stand-alone operation
Current Hardware Revision: D
Minimum version of UHD required: 3.11.0.0

USRP N320

The USRP N320 is a networked software defined radio that provides reliability and fault-tolerance for deployment in large scale and distributed wireless systems. This is a high performance SDR that uses a unique RF design by Ettus Research to provide 2 RX and 2 TX channels in a half-wide RU form factor. Each channel provides up to 200 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, and covers a frequency range from 3 MHz to 6 GHz. The baseband processor uses the Xilinx Zynq-7100 SoC to deliver a large user programmable FPGA for real-time, low latency processing and a dual-core ARM CPU for stand-alone operation. Support for 1 GbE, 10 GbE, and Aurora interfaces over two SPF+ ports and 1 QSFP+ port enables high throughput IQ streaming to a host PC or FPGA coprocessor. Flexible synchronization architecture with support for LO sharing for TX and RX, 10 MHz clock reference, PPS time reference, GPSDO, and White Rabbit enables implementation of phase coherent MIMO testbeds. The USRP N320 leverages recent software developments in UHD to simplify control and management of multiple devices over the network with the unique capability to remotely administrate tasks such as debugging, updating software, rebooting, resetting to factory state, and monitoring system health.