Software Radio, A Modern Approach to Radio Engineering

Jeffrey H. Reed
Prentice Hall PTR
565 pages; $92
ISBN: 0-13-081158-0


Software radios represent a major change in the design approach for radios in which a large portion of the functionality is implemented through programmable signal processing devices, giving the radio the ability to change its operating parameters to accommodate new features and capabilities. The growth of software radios is motivated by their numerous advantages: ease of design, ease of manufacture, multimode operation, use of advanced signal processing techniques, fewer discrete components and flexibility to incorporate additional functionality. The challenge in creating a software radio is the broad scope of knowledge necessary, including digital processing algorithms, RF circuits, software methodologies and digital circuits. This book reviews critical and interdependent radio subsystems from the perspective of the DSP designer.

Chapter 1 provides a basic introduction to software radio concepts, discusses the benefits of software radios and sets the stage for discussing software radio design. Chapter 2 provides the digital signal processing engineer with fundamentals in constructing RF front-ends and describes processing that can be performed in the digital domain to overcome problem areas in RF design. Multi-rate digital signal processing, using different sample rates, is the topic of Chapter 3. Chapter 4 surveys the area of direct digital synthesis of modulated waveforms. A rigorous understanding of the conversion process and the trade-offs between the resolution, sample rate and dynamic range of the resulting system are the focus of Chapter 5. Chapter 6 reviews the wide variety of adaptive array algorithms and hardware implementation issues. The basics of digital signal processing microprocessors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), in addition to how one would choose one of these alternatives for constructing a software radio, are discussed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 examines object-oriented programming approaches, including JAVA and common object request broker architecture (CORBA), for creating software radios. Chapter 9 describes some examples of software radios that have been built.

To order this book, contact: Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 (800) 922-0579.

Stability Analysis of Nonlinear Microwave Circuits

Almudena Suàrez and Raymond Queré
Artech House Inc.
337 pages; $99, £69
ISBN: 1-58053-303-5

The main purpose of this book is to provide insight into the dynamics of the most common nonlinear microwave circuits, without losing track of the practical designer objectives. It gives an explanation of the operation principles of circuits such as tuned and synchronized oscillators, analog frequency dividers commonly employed in high frequency phased-locked loops and other circuits with complex behavior, like self-oscillating mixers. The book considers many instability problems, and the emphasis is the understanding and practical usefulness of the different stability concepts and the provision of stability analysis techniques.

Chapter 1 presents the different kinds of solutions that the nonlinear circuits may have, together with the essential concepts of local stability, global stability and bifurcation. The harmonic balance technique, described in Chapter 2, is oriented toward circuits with autonomous, synchronized or sub-harmonic behavior. The proposed algorithms can be employed by the user of commercially available harmonic-balance software. In Chapter 3, a new open-loop technique for the stability analysis of large-signal regimes is presented. The objectives have been the accuracy, rigor and generality of application to circuits containing many nonlinear elements. The techniques can also be externally implemented by the user in commercially available harmonic-balance programs. Chapter 4 describes the different types of bifurcations from DC regimes, periodic regimes and quasi-periodic regimes. Different techniques for their detection from harmonic balance software are provided and illustrated with practical examples. Chapter 5 presents a parametric analysis of complex circuits like self-oscillating mixers, analog frequency dividers and phase-locked loops. The parameters that are most likely to vary in design or measurement are used in each case. Chaos is a kind of steady-state solution giving rise to continuous spectra, at least for some frequency intervals. Chapter 6 offers a detailed description of chaotic solutions and for the most common bifurcation sequences leading to chaotic behavior.

To order this book, contact: Artech House Inc., 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 (781) 769-9750 ext. 4030; or 46 Gillingham St., London SW1V 1HH, UK +44 (0) 207 596-8750.