Toolbox description

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Tutorial: Using the USRP with Matlab
1. Description of SDR4All toolbox
2. Setup the toolbox
3. About the signals
4. Hello world tutorial
Tutorial: Using the USRP with Windows applications
1. Description of SDR4All toolbox
2. Setup the toolbox
3. Sent and received signals
4. Hello world tutorial
5. RX application
6. TX application

Contents

General description

The SDR4All toolbox provides tools to make the USRP plug and play for windows OS. It is composed of:

  • A driver
  • A server as an interface to the radio card. Is used to communicate with the card from Matlab.
  • A DLL to directly communicate with the radio card. Can be use if you want to program real time applications with the USRP.

The toolbox is a freeware software compatible with the daughterboard RFX 2400. If the card is working in transmission, it uses the port TX/RX of the daughterboard. If you are using the toolbox with a version < 1.0.2, if the card is working in reception it uses the port RX2. With version >= 1.0.2, it works with the port TX/RX.

More information about the installation process is described here.

Example of what is possible to do

Driver

The driver provided with the card is a driver which has been developped by SDR4All and is not the same driver than the one provided with GNU Radio.

Driver illustration

The driver is automatically installed with the toolbox setup if the GNURadio driver is not installed on your computer. Otherwise check the page about the driver installation

SDR4All server

This software provides an interface to communicate with the USRP through a socket. As the driver is written with managed code, matlab can not directly communicate with it for example. So matlab talks with the USRP card through the server.

The server is able to perform a large set of operations with the card. A list of commands is available on this page.

Matlab functions

The SDR4All toolbox also provides some MEX functions that communicates with the server. These functions allows the user from matlab to

  • Connect to the card
  • Set the working gain and central frequency
  • In reception the decimation gain (signal bandwidth)
  • In transmission the interpolation rate (signal bandwidth)
  • And of course, receive and send signals.

See the "Hello world!" demonstration for more information.


SDR4All DLL

A DLL to communicate with the USRP is also provided with the toolbox. This DLL can be used on your own applications to develop real-time software that process digital communication signals.

See the "Hello world!" demonstration for more information.

Softs based on the DLL

2 other softs are provided with the toolbox:

  • TX bursts: the soft transmit in a continuous way bursts of data. It simply allows the user to test the reception within matlab.
  • RX to file: receive a signal and write its content into a file. Also allows the user to test a transmission within matlab.
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