Radiowave Propagation Measurement Suite
Communications & Embedded Systems
A receiver and mobile transmitter to measure propagation of radiowaves in the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) band was developed by engineers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). Most of the equipment was (commercial off-the-shelf) COTS, including arbitrary waveform generators, power amplifiers, GPS (global positioning system) timing standards, and digital receivers. The equipment was delivered in standard 19" racks with Sun™ workstations for control and monitoring.
Custom software was developed to graphically display the received power level (over time, using a strip-chart), the power spectral density, and/or the delay spread. The transmitted signal had a chip rate of approximately 3.5 Mcps, and an adaptive Wiener filter was used to calibrate out the hardware distortion.
Four separate antennas were used on both the transmitter and the receiver. Each receiver antenna had a completely independent RF down-converter and digitizer. This configuration enabled the analysts to study the benefits of spatial diversity.
Related Terminology
communication devices • radiowave propagation measurement suite • mobile transmitter and receiver • radiowave measurement • universal mobile telecommunications system band • arbitrary waveform generators • Sun workstations • custom software development • communications engineering
