GNU Radio
Encyclopedia
GNU Radio is a free software
toolkit for learning about, building, and deploying software-defined radio
systems. GNU Radio is released under the GPL version 3 license
.
GNU Radio is a signal processing
package, which is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
. The goal is to give ordinary software people the ability to 'hack' the electromagnetic spectrum
, that is, to understand the radio spectrum
and think of clever ways to use it.
As with all software-defined radio systems, reconfigurability
is the key feature. Instead of purchasing multiple expensive radios, a single more generic radio is purchased, which feeds into powerful signal processing software (GNU Radio, in this case). Currently only a few forms of radio are duplicated in GNU Radio, but if one understands the math of a radio transmission system
, one can reconfigure GNU Radio to receive it.
The GNU Radio project utilizes the Universal Software Radio Peripheral
(USRP) which is a digital acquisition (DAQ
) system containing four 64 mega sample-per-second (MS/s) 12-bit analog-to-digital
(A to D) converters, four 128 MS/s 14-bit digital-to-analog
(D to A) converters, and support circuitry including a high-speed USB 2.0 interface. The USRP is capable of processing signals up to 16 MHz wide. Several transmitter and receiver plug-in daughter boards are available covering various bands between 0 and 5.9 GHz. The USRP was developed by Matt Ettus.
. Philanthropist John Gilmore initiated and has sustained GNU Radio with the funding of $320,000 (US) to Eric Blossom
for code creation and project management duties.
GNU Radio began as a fork
of the Pspectra code that was developed by the SpectrumWare project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. In 2004 a complete rewrite
of the GNU Radio was completed, so today GNU Radio doesn't contain any of the original Pspectra code. Also of note is that the Pspectra codebase has been used as the foundation of the commercial Vanu Software Radio.
In September 2010, Eric Blossom
stepped down as project manager and was replaced by Tom Rondeau. Tom is a graduate of Virginia Tech and is an expert in Cognitive radio
and a long time contributor to GNU Radio.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
toolkit for learning about, building, and deploying software-defined radio
Software-defined radio
A software-defined radio system, or SDR, is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded computing devices...
systems. GNU Radio is released under the GPL version 3 license
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
GNU Radio is a signal processing
Signal processing
Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
package, which is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
. The goal is to give ordinary software people the ability to 'hack' the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
, that is, to understand the radio spectrum
Radio spectrum
Radio spectrum refers to the part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to radio frequencies – that is, frequencies lower than around 300 GHz ....
and think of clever ways to use it.
As with all software-defined radio systems, reconfigurability
Reconfigurability
Reconfigurability denotes the Reconfigurable Computing capability of a system, so that its behavior can be changed by reconfiguration, i. e. by loading different configware code. This static reconfigurability distinguishes between reconfiguration time and run time...
is the key feature. Instead of purchasing multiple expensive radios, a single more generic radio is purchased, which feeds into powerful signal processing software (GNU Radio, in this case). Currently only a few forms of radio are duplicated in GNU Radio, but if one understands the math of a radio transmission system
Transmission system
In telecommunications a transmission system is a system that transmits a signal from one place to another. The signal can be an electrical, optical or radio signal....
, one can reconfigure GNU Radio to receive it.
The GNU Radio project utilizes the Universal Software Radio Peripheral
Universal Software Radio Peripheral
The Universal Software Radio Peripheral products are a family of computer-hosted hardware offered by Ettus Research LLC and its parent company, National Instruments, for making software radios. The USRP product is intended to be a comparatively inexpensive hardware device for software radio...
(USRP) which is a digital acquisition (DAQ
Data acquisition
Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems typically convert analog waveforms into digital values for processing...
) system containing four 64 mega sample-per-second (MS/s) 12-bit analog-to-digital
Analog-to-digital converter
An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
(A to D) converters, four 128 MS/s 14-bit digital-to-analog
Digital-to-analog converter
In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
(D to A) converters, and support circuitry including a high-speed USB 2.0 interface. The USRP is capable of processing signals up to 16 MHz wide. Several transmitter and receiver plug-in daughter boards are available covering various bands between 0 and 5.9 GHz. The USRP was developed by Matt Ettus.
History
Started in 2001, GNU Radio is an official GNU projectGNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...
. Philanthropist John Gilmore initiated and has sustained GNU Radio with the funding of $320,000 (US) to Eric Blossom
Eric Blossom
Eric Blossom is the founder and overall architect of the GNU Radio project. GNU Radio is a free software toolkit for building real-time signal processing systems...
for code creation and project management duties.
GNU Radio began as a fork
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of the Pspectra code that was developed by the SpectrumWare project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. In 2004 a complete rewrite
Rewrite (programming)
A rewrite in computer programming is the act or result of re-implementing a large portion of existing functionality without re-use of its source code. When the rewrite is not using existing code at all, it is common to speak of a rewrite from scratch...
of the GNU Radio was completed, so today GNU Radio doesn't contain any of the original Pspectra code. Also of note is that the Pspectra codebase has been used as the foundation of the commercial Vanu Software Radio.
In September 2010, Eric Blossom
Eric Blossom
Eric Blossom is the founder and overall architect of the GNU Radio project. GNU Radio is a free software toolkit for building real-time signal processing systems...
stepped down as project manager and was replaced by Tom Rondeau. Tom is a graduate of Virginia Tech and is an expert in Cognitive radio
Cognitive radio
A cognitive radio is a kind of two-way radio that automatically changes its transmission or reception parameters, in a way where the entire wireless communication network -- of which it is a node -- communicates efficiently, while avoiding interference with licensed or licensed exempt users...
and a long time contributor to GNU Radio.
Version history
This is the version history, latest first:| Version | Date |
|---|---|
| 3.4.0 | 23/09/2011 |
| 3.3.0 | 06/03/2010 |
| 3.2.2 | 07/15/2009 |
| 3.2.1 | 07/06/2009 |
| 3.2 | 05/24/2009 |
| 3.1.3 | 08/23/2008 |
| 3.1.2 | 03/24/2008 |
| 3.1.1 | 11/05/2007 |
| 3.1.0 | 10/22/2007 |
| 3.0.4 | 07/27/2007 |
| 3.0.3 | 03/01/2007 |
| 3.0.2 | 11/15/2006 |
| 3.0.1 | 11/08/2006 |
| 3.0 | 10/08/2006 |
| 2.8 | 04/15/2006 |
| 2.7 | 04/03/2006 |
| 2.6 | 12/09/2005 |
| 2.5 | 03/03/2005 |
| 2.4 | 02/02/2005 |
| 2.3 | 11/04/2004 |
| 2.2 | 10/11/2004 |