Physics / mechanism
Software-defined radio (SDR) replaces fixed-function analog RF front-ends with programmable digital processing. A wideband ADC/DAC pair digitizes the signal close to the antenna; all filtering, modulation/demodulation, frequency selection, and protocol handling run in software on FPGAs, DSPs, or CPUs. Key parameters: instantaneous bandwidth (commodity SDRs: 10–200 MHz; high-end ADRV9009-class devices: up to 1 GHz), dynamic range (SNR/SFDR typically 60–80 dB), and latency (FPGA-based pipelines push below 1 µs). SoC integration—RF front-end + FPGA fabric on one die (Xilinx RFSoC, AD9361/9371)—is the current centre of gravity. Military/SIGINT-grade platforms extend to 18 GHz+ with 16-bit ADCs.
Competitive landscape
Fixed-function RF ASICs (cellular modems, Wi-Fi chipsets) dominate volume markets on cost and power; SDR wins where flexibility, multi-band, or rapid protocol iteration matters. Competing approaches include heterodyne architectures with switchable filter banks, direct-conversion radios with firmware-tunable front-ends, and photonic RF processing (electro-optic sampling) for >100 GHz spans. The relevant comparison:
Companies using
Connected ideas
Sources
Frontier (open questions)
- To be added.