Revolutionizing software defined radio: case studies in hardware, software, and education

SDR has increasingly become an invaluable research, development, and educational tool within the telecommunications sector with respect to rapidly prototyping new algorithms and paradigms in actual radio hardware and evaluating them in real-world over-the-air conditions. Due to advances in microprocessor technology, radio frequency hardware, and software, SDR has matured into a reliable tool that is now part of almost every communication engineer's toolbox, and it has changed the way the telecommunication sector produces innovative solutions to technical challenges. In this article, we explore four case studies that highlight SDR as a reliable tool in industry, academia, and government. Specifically, we study four examples that illustrate: advances in low-cost, reliable, and versatile SDR platforms, open source and universal SDR software development environments, powerful technical computing environments employing SDR hardware for real-world experimentation, and educational paradigms for synthesizing digital communications and digital processing concepts using SDR technology. By understanding the impact of these case studies, we intend to provide some insight on how the SDR revolution has changed the way the world designs and implements telecommunication systems.