Naughton, David and Baldwin, Gerard and Farrell, Ronan (2005) Performance requirements for analog-to-digital converters in wideband reconfigurable radios. Proceedings of SPIE, 5837. pp. 582-589. ISSN 0277-786X

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Abstract

With the current trend towards software defined radio, several dandidate architectures for the analog receiver front-end have been presented. A common proposal for software defined reconfigurable radio is to develop a wideband ADC and utilise this for capturing a large segment of the spectrum. This would enable the subsequent signal processing operations of channel selection and data extraction to be carried out by a digital processor. This would allow the radio to be reconfigured by simply changing the software. In analysis of these systems, powerful neighbouring signals, or blockers, are considered but it has been conveniently assumed that suitable dynamic range will be available at the ADC. THis is an acceptable assumption in narrowband systems where automatic gain control and analogue channel select filters can be used, but is not appropriate for a wideband system. In this paper we present an analysis based on bit-error-rates (BER) which shows the effect of blockers in a wideband architecture on the performance of the communication link and on the dynamic range requirements of the ADC. We consider, as a representative example of a real world situation, the use of a wideband receiver on a Rayleigh fading channel. In any analysis of wideband receivers, the behaviour of the channel must also be included as the performance of the communication link is a combination of noise sources from both the channel and the electronics. The effect of high power interferers and blockers on the quantisation noise from the ADC will be mathematically modelled and the BER rates for the communication system will be presented. Given these results, it is possible to determine the minimum required resolution and dynamic range for an ADC in a wideband system given the spectral environment at the frequencies of interest.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Copyright 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. This paper was published in Proceedings of SPIE Vol.5837 and is made available as an electronic reprint with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
Keywords:	BER; ADC; quantization; wideband;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Electronic Engineering
Item ID:	576
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.608486
Depositing User:	Ronan Farrell
Date Deposited:	29 Jun 2007
Journal or Publication Title:	Proceedings of SPIE
Publisher:	SPIE
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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