GNU Radio Conference 2024

16 Sept 2024, 08:00 → 20 Sept 2024, 17:00 US/Eastern

Knoxville Convention Center (KCC)

GNU Radio Conference (GRCon) is the annual conference for the GNU Radio project and community, and has established itself as one of the premier industry events for Software Radio. It is a week-long conference that includes high-quality technical content and valuable networking opportunities. GRCon is a venue that highlights design, implementation, and theory that has been practically applied in a useful way. GRCon attendees come from a large variety of backgrounds, including industry, academia, government, and hobbyists.  Offering an annual program with broad appeal, GRCon attracts a variety of participants: people new to software radio who are interested in learning more, seasoned developers ready to show off their latest work, and experts who want to keep their finger on the pulse and direction of the industry.

GRCon24 is the 14th Annual GNU Radio Conference and will be held September 16-20 2024 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Key Dates

• February 4 - Registration Opens
• March 1 - Call for Participation Opens
• July 8 (Extended) - Call for Participation Closes
• July 12 - (Initial) Main Track Schedule Posted
• September 16 - Conference Begins

 

We invite developers and users from across the GNU Radio Community to present your projects, presentations, papers, posters, and problems at GNU Radio Conference 2024.

GRCon24 Schedule Overview

 

Attendance Justification Letter

Do you need help justifying why your manager or supervisor should send you to GRCon this year? Feel free to use this example email.

GNU_RADIO_EXHIBITOR_KIT 2024.pdf

Monday, 16 September

13:00 → 17:00 Hands-On Activities

13:00 → 15:00 Other: Early Check-In

Tuesday, 17 September

08:15 → 09:00 Conference Check-in

09:00 → 09:45 Keynote: Tuesday Keynote

09:00 Jack Dongarra

09:45 → 10:45 Project Talk

09:45 Project Talk: GNU Radio Organization

Speaker: Josh Morman

10:45 → 11:00 AM Break

10:45 → 17:00 Expo Hall

11:00 → 12:00 Main Track

11:00 IQEngine Project Update

Brief intro to IQEngine, including how it's built on top of SigMF and how you can run GNU Radio flowgraphs from it, and then I'll cover what has been done over the last year since GRCon23. This includes the ability to store your recordings on the server running IQEngine instead of the cloud (a highly requested feature), the new web interface, async plugin API, SatDump support, additional DSP/demod features, and more! This year, the public instance at IQEngine.org will include recordings of all the signals used in the wireless CTF, and some of the challenges will even be solvable purely from within the IQEngine.org website!

Speaker: Dr Marc Lichtman

11:30 Modular CubeSat Radio, A New GNU Radio Compatible Open Source Modular SDR Platform for LEO Space Applications

The development of radio frequency software and hardware for nanosatellites is often beyond the expertise, financial capability, and regulatory knowledge of many developers. This is especially true for Amateur satellite frequency allocations above 2.4 GHz, for academic groups, or those developers located outside the USA, due to ITAR restrictions. As a result, Amateur satellite software and hardware development is a historically USA centered activity, characterized by limited access and reliance on obsolete technologies by entities outside the USA.

To address this gap, we present a new Canadian open-source initiative called Modular CubeSat Radio (MCR), a GNU Radio compatible, modular SDR designed for small satellite applications, designed and developed by the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research, with funding from Amateur Radio Digital Communications.

The initiative consists of the creation of a state of the art, globally available, affordable, easy to manufacture CubeSat RF system with flight heritage and the possibility to be developed for use on any spectrum assigned to the Amateur satellite service by an average academic CubeSat developer or hobbyist.

Capitalizing on the flexibility and reconfigurability of software defined radio hardware compatible with GNU Radio, the strictly open hardware and software MCR consists of a core module featuring a short wave SDR based on the Hermes Lite 2, an outreach camera, a computer system, and up to four interchangeable transverter modules on a common template. These are connected by a robust bus in a PC104 form factor. In addition, the MCR also features GNU Radio flowgraphs for common RF uses (TT&C, digipeater, telemetry beacon etc.)

Further to the ecosystem, a full technology demonstrator with the SDR, computer, camera and modules for HF and VHF operation is being developed, to demonstrate the system on Skya’anaSat, the University of Victoria’s 3U CubeSat which will fly in SSO in 2025 as part of the Canadian Space Agency’s CUBICS program. This mission is expected to yield flight heritage for the MCR, and serve as the first OSCAR designated Canadian satellite, making long-lasting, Canadian contributions to historically underrepresented members of the Amateur satellite community on a global scale.

Speaker: Mr Levente Buzas VA7QF (University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research)

12:00 → 17:00 Capture the Flag (CTF)

Capture the flag (CTF) is a competition where contestants earn points by finding secret messages ("flags") hidden in radio signals. Challenge yourself and improve your GNU Radio skills!

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 14:30 Main Track

13:00 Design and Implementation of LoRa Physical Layer in GNU Radio

LoRa is the physical layer of LoRaWAN, one of the most popular low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies. The LoRa modulation uses a proprietary chirp spread spectrum modulation and error correction code to achieve long-range communication with low energy consumption. In the past years, many reverse engineering attempts have been made and led to an overall understanding of the encoding and modulation scheme used by its physical layer. In this paper, we present an open-source implementation of a LoRa transceiver that is fully compatible and has been tested extensively with commercial LoRa devices. The GNU Radio transceiver implements all the signal processing blocks that are required to transmit, detect, synchronize and decode LoRa frames. We first review briefly the LoRa modulation scheme and then present in more detail the algorithms and implementation of our receiver that operates at a very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The synchronization features a highly optimized estimation and compensation of major hardware impairments such as carrier frequency offset, sampling time offset, and sampling frequency offset which is important for low-SNR operation. The receiving performance is further enhanced by soft-decision demodulation to improve the effectiveness of the LoRa Hamming code. Finally, the performance of our implementation is evaluated using NI USRP-2920 and LimeSDR Mini software-defined radios. The source code is available on GitHub and can be used as a starting point for further research and development of LoRa-based systems or directly as a fully functional LoRa transceiver.

Speaker: Joachim Tapparel (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland)

13:15 Building a Full Transceiver Stack with GR-lora for Meshtastic Networks

This project was built upon the reverse engineering work done by Joachim Tapparel of https://github.com/tapparelj/gr-lora_sdr .

I came across the Meshtastic project only a few months back, when there was a great push on major radio based topic groups and discord. The allure of Meshtastic, in their words is "An open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices".

My first question: can I decode the IQ data transmitted from a Meshtastic device? It turns out, with gr-lora , yes!

The Semtech SX1262 family of LoRa chips are inexpensive. However, with LoRa, there are other concerns. LoRa data is encoded with customizable factors such as : LoRa bandwidth, coding rates, and spreading factors. Setting these on hardware means you can only receive from the same settings.

Meshtastic does make our job easier, since there's 8 presets. They define defaults for coding rate, spread factors, and bandwidth. But again, real hardware can only do 1 preset at a time.

My project, Meshtastic-SDR fills the role of reception. However, instead of being locked to only 1 preset, we can decode all presets at the same time! Speaking of presets, the same bandwidth presets are also set to the same transmit frequency. This means that even inexpensive SDRs like RTLSDR can reliably receive up to 5 presets at the same time.

In the USA, capturing all presets does require 20MHz of bandwidth. Europeans do have a greatly constrained set of frequencies at 869.40-869.65MHz . This however means that they can capture all presets with the RTLSDR.

The RX flow is functionally complete. I'm working on the transmit flow as well, and will be complete soon. The TX will allow repeater functionality across presets, and even across bands. For amateur radio operators, we can even shift communications down into 2 meter (144-148MHz) using 62.5KHz bandwidth.

Speaker: Joshua Conway

13:30 Bringing Radio Astronomy to Community Colleges

Almost 40% of students nationally take their introductory astronomy course at a community college. Generally resource challenged but serving a vital educational service to students from non-traditional and minority demographics, community college instructors are constantly looking to keep their courses relevant, exciting and cutting-edge. Radio astronomy has rarely featured significantly in these “Astro-101” classes, both because the concepts are esoteric, and because of the lack of suitable resources, such as data sets, training, and equipment. This is about to change. Thanks to an ARDC grant, the SETI Institute has developed a curriculum designed for introductory astronomy at community college, with a simple to use SDR interface and access to the data and telescopes of the Institute’s Allen Telescope Array in Northern California. This talk will describe the collaboration with NASA’s Community College Network, the development of the curriculum, software interface and the first training workshop training for community college instructors.

Speakers: Dr Vishal Gajjar (SETI Institute), Dr Simon Steel (SETI Institute)

14:00 Sponsor Talk: NI

Speaker: National Instruments

13:00 → 15:30 Workshop

13:00 Fast Track to Designing FIR Filters with Python

on Tuesday
Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters are the more popular of the two main types of digital filter implementations used in DSP applications. In this workshop, we will go through best practice approaches for optimized FIR filter design and implementation using the free and
open-source Python programming language. This will include the common techniques for going from filter requirements to practical implementation and demonstrate both creating FIR filter designs as well as evaluating filter frequency responses using the Python language and its signal processing library.

This workshop will include:

• Complete setup to get Python up and running for signal processing applications.
• Summary of the high-level approaches to FIR filter design – which are best and why?
• Fast track to using the signal processing library in Python for creating FIR designs.
• The complete design flow for FIR filters from specification through verification.
• Using Python for filter evaluation, including plotting magnitude and phase responses.

Speaker: Mr Daniel Boschen

14:30 → 15:00 Lightning Talk Block

15:00 → 15:20 PM Break

15:20 → 17:00 Main Track

15:20 PySDR: Tackling Advanced DSP Concepts

PySDR is a free online textbook that provides an introduction to the areas of RF DSP, SDR, and wireless communications, using many diagrams, animations, and Python code examples. PySDR is not a Python library; all code examples use straightforward Python/numpy/scipy/matplotlib. Recent additions to PySDR include chapters on beamforming/array processing, as well as cyclostationary signal processing, which are both considered very heavy/advanced topics in the world of RF signal processing. In this talk Marc discusses the challenges of teaching such topics, and what has been done within PySDR to lower the barrier of entry. For anyone who has been interested in diving into the area of array processing, and/or cyclostationary processing, this is the perfect time!

Beamforming chapter: https://pysdr.org/content/doa.html
Cyclostationary chapter: https://pysdr.org/content/cyclostationary.html

The source material for PySDR is entirely open-source, including all code to generate the figures used within the textbook- https://github.com/777arc/PySDR.

Speaker: Dr Marc Lichtman

15:35 A Modern, Two-Course Undergraduate Communications Sequence

Software Defined Radios (SDR) present a
unique opportunity for undergraduate communications
courses, as they are low-cost and easily obtained. In addition,
the recent momentum of the GNURadio project has
significantly lowered the barrier to entry for implementing
SDR applications. Some universities have integrated GNURadio
into their undergraduate communications courses as
a motivator [1]. Additionally, other resources are pulbicly
available, such as the excellent website PySDR.org and open
source textbooks (e.g., [2]). However, it can be difficult to
build a meaningful, cohesive curriculum that covers traditional
communications theory while providing exposure to
modern SDR applications. This paper presents a two-course
sequence that utilizes a variety of traditional and nontraditional
resources to expose graduates to theoretical and
applied concepts, which the authors taught in its entirety
during the 2023-2024 academic year. It contains a full
outline, explanation of pedagogical methodology, and links
to lesson plans and resources.

REFERENCES
[1] P. Mathys, “Motivating undergraduate communication theory
using gnu radio,” Proceedings of the GNU Radio Conference,
vol. 1, no. 1, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://pubs.gnuradio.org/
index.php/grcon/article/view/10
[2] A. Wyglinski, R. Getz, T. Collins, and D. Pu, Software-
Defined Radio for Engineers, ser. Artech House mobile
communications series. Artech House, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://books.google.com/books?id=cKR5DwAAQBAJ

Speaker: Neil Rogers (USAFA)

16:05 Remote Sensor Node Updates for FISSURE - The RF Framework

New updates to FISSURE, the open-source RF framework centered around GNU Radio, include the addition of deployable remote sensor nodes consisting of general-purpose computers that interact with many types of radio peripherals. These remote sensor nodes run a small subset of code that can be controlled over a network through the FISSURE Dashboard GUI to perform traditional FISSURE operations and also execute new types of scripted actions that can be run autonomously on startup or semi-autonomously through user interaction.

Multiple types of COTS single-board computers (Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, etc.), mini-PCs, laptops, desktop computers, and operating systems are supported along with various RF-enabled devices like software-defined radios or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Zigbee adapters. The new updates also include the ability to trigger electromagnetic effects using different types of RF, visual, acoustic, and environmental sensors connected to the nodes.

The deployment of multiple sensor nodes on the same network unlocks many geospatial applications for future development of FISSURE. Such applications include direction finding, tracking, intrusion detection, mobile deployment, and perimeter defense. A small form factor and autonomous capabilities grant unique opportunities for stealth deployment and packaging onto existing platforms. These updates can also provide a low-cost mechanism for remote workers to conduct combined RF-cybersecurity testing and access specialized RF environments like international localities of interest, laboratories, and test sites.

This talk will provide a brief overview of FISSURE and walk through all the new updates relating to the remote sensor node capabilities. To learn more, read about FISSURE on GitHub: https://github.com/ainfosec/FISSURE

Speaker: Christopher Poore (AIS)

16:35 Real-Time FMCW Radar System for Waveform Optimization using SDRs

We develop a highly flexible real-time FMCW radar system for designing and testing different radar waveforms (e.g., triangular, sawtooth, sinusoidal) and radar signal processing algorithms without the need for extensive hardware modifications and fetching MATLAB codes, using low-cost SDRs. We control the shape of the waveform in real-time using an adaptive filtering method to improve radar performance metrics such as range resolution for integrated sensing and communications (ISACs) applications. To demonstrate real-time spectrum optimization, we use the gr-fosphor GNU Radio block for real-time spectrum analyzers (RTSA)-like spectrum visualization. We implement the joint receiver model in GNU Radio platform using the successive interference cancellation (SIC) algorithm to recover the communications bits constellations from the combined signal after the suppressing the predicted radar returns.

Speaker: Shammi Doly (Arizona State University)

Wednesday, 18 September

08:15 → 09:00 Conference Check-in

09:00 → 09:45 Keynote: Wednesday Keynote

09:00 Shahriar Shahramian

09:45 → 10:45 Main Track

09:45 gr-pdw: An OOT Module for Pulse Descriptor Word (PDW) Generation

Pulse descriptor words (PDW) are measured properties of detected RF pulses. PDWs are often utilized for radar sensor characterization, identification, and emulation. Pulse measurements are typically provided as an option on high-SWaP, high-cost laboratory test equipment or as custom FPGA firmware which is not easily scalable to multiple SDR/RF platforms. gr-pdw is an out-of-tree (OOT) module for GNU Radio developed by GTRI that performs pulse detection and PDW generation. The intention is that gr-pdw provides the ability for any commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) SDR to perform PDW measurements. Currently it is capable of measuring pulse width, power, frequency, and time-of-arrival (ToA) along with noise power. gr-pdw also provides blocks for writing PDWs to a log file and controlling the flowgraph parameters remotely over a network connection. Testing has been performed with a USRP B210 in both laboratory and field settings with measurements comparable to currently used PDW generators. Blocks have been prototyped in Python with plans to port them to C++ for improved performance in high pulse-rate scenarios. GTRI plans to open source this OOT after initial capabilities have been fully tested and implemented. This paper presents gr-pdw theory of operation, descriptions of block functions, and test results.

Speaker: Dr James Humphries (GTRI)

10:15 ACCELERATING SETI: ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY NEXT-GEN DSP PIPELINE

The Allen Telescope Array is a radio interferometer array located in Northern California. Each of the 42 antennas is 6 meters in diameter and is distributed randomly over an area of 350 meters. Each dish is sensitive to an ultra-wideband frequency range from 200 MHz to 12 GHz. While in operation, each dish can produce 1.5 GHz of bandwidth for each polarization adding up to 1.3 Tbps of data.

The huge amount of data produced each second by the telescope has to be processed in real time on-site. This talk will demonstrate how we are combining pre-existing software such as the Breakthrough Listen Accelerated DSP Engine (BLADE) with the NVIDIA Holoscan SDK to create the next-generation data processing pipeline at the ATA. This new architecture helps leverage the full power of the hardware by using Remote Direct Access Memory (RDMA) to facilitate data transfers between the network interface and the graphics card. Also, the extra flexibility provided by Holoscan helps to deploy new processing pipelines faster, and by using its powerful abstractions, deploy machine learning-based algorithms alongside traditional ones.

Speaker: Luigi Cruz (SETI Institute)

10:00 → 12:00 Workshop

10:00 Simple Replay Attack Demo with GNU Radio

This workshop showcases replay attacks on a mini-setup which includes remote-controlled LED and an off-the-shelf SDR. Workshop aims to show how GNU Radio can be used in every step of a replay attack attempt.

In the workshop, we will be using a simple RF radio device, a remote control, and a transmit-capable SDR in order to receive and transmit signals. The remote is used to turn on and off the lights. It has A, B, and OnOff keys on it. We will first search the signal from the original transmitter, capture it, and save it to replay later. In the first part of the workshop, we will use SDR along with GNU Radio to do replay attack with a captured radio signal. In the second part, SDR native tools will be utilized to do the same. In the last part, RF data from the remote control will be analyzed and decoded with the help of Inspectrum application, and GNU Radio will be used to synthesize the signal.

Speaker: Murat Sever (TOBB ETU)

10:45 → 11:00 AM Break

10:45 → 16:30 Capture the Flag (CTF)

Capture the flag (CTF) is a competition where contestants earn points by finding secret messages ("flags") hidden in radio signals. Challenge yourself and improve your GNU Radio skills!

10:45 → 16:30 Expo Hall

11:00 → 12:00 Main Track

11:00 Sponsor Talk: Aaronia

Speaker: Aaronia

11:30 5G Base-Station with Hardware Acceleration for Non-Terrestrial Networks on a Space-Grade System-on-Chip

The expansion of cellular networks, specifically 5G, beyond the limits of Earth into Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) is one of the hottest topics in cellular communications today. By employing space- and air-borne base stations, the term “no service” could become obsolete, enabling critical services for maritime, aeronautical, and disaster-affected regions. Despite its potential, the practical realization of space-bound components entails formidable challenges due to hazardous radiation and energy constraints.
We present a concept that builds on space-qualified hardware technology. By exploiting a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), ASIC-like vector processors, and a CPU on a heterogeneous processing platform, we realize a partly hardware-accelerated gNodeB based on a heavily modified OpenAirInterface low Earth orbit branch. Our benchmarks show that offloading computationally intensive physical layer signal processing operations, as well as RF frontend-related protocol handling, to the FPGA is essential for achieving the required 5G data rates and significantly higher energy efficiency compared to a CPU-only implementation. Our findings imply that future efforts should primarily focus on offloading additional processing-intensive components. A discussion on further steps towards core network integration concludes this paper.

Speaker: Michael Petry

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Amateur Radio License Exam

https://events.gnuradio.org/event/24/page/148-amateur-radio-license-exams

13:00 → 14:45 Main Track

13:00 AD-JUPITER-EBZ - Agile SDR in a box (SPONSORED)

Modern Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems have a high degree of complexity due to increasing channel count and complex signal processing techniques.

Jupiter SDR and SYNCHRONA14 are proven open-source evaluation and prototyping platforms that speed up product development, reduces risk, and accelerate time to market. They support SDR applications from early concepts right through prototyping complex real-world use cases. Multiple devices can be synchronized to increase the channel count for implementing phase and frequency coherent MIMO systems.

Schematics, HDL and software examples are freely available, enabling easy integration into your end product thus reducing risk and product development time.

Speaker: Mihai Bancisor (Analog Devices)

13:15 Behind CyberEther: Bridge to Portable GPU Accelerated Interface

Another year, another update! This talk marks the third consecutive year of CyberEther development updates at the GNURadio Conference.

CyberEther is a multi-platform GPU-accelerated interface designed for compute-intensive pipelines. Engineered to provide cutting-edge visualization capabilities, it leverages powerful graphics and compute backends including Vulkan, Metal, and WebGPU. The platform's runtime configurable flowgraph pipeline and modular blocks enable seamless acceleration across various devices, making it a versatile tool for prototyping and testing new ideas.

Built from the ground up with a focus on compatibility and extendability, CyberEther runs on a wide array of devices, from Apple Silicon and Linux systems to Raspberry Pi and web browsers using WebGPU. Its graphical interface allows users to build pipelines intuitively, while a headless remote interface facilitates control over servers and edge devices. With a commitment to ongoing development and community contributions, CyberEther continues to evolve, integrating new features and expanding its capabilities beyond radio communications to areas such as machine learning, computer vision, and robotics.

This year's update will present the new features developed:

• Memory interoperability between CUDA, Vulkan, and Metal.
• Headless remote interface.
• Addition of multiple new blocks (Filter, Multiplication, Slice, etc).
• Visual flowgraph editor interface.

The future development plans for the next year will also be discussed. This includes adding support for GNU Radio in CyberBridge, an interface that enables GNU Radio to use CyberEther to display plots and other visualizations frictionlessly.

Speaker: Luigi Cruz (SETI Institute)

13:45 The Operation of Tiny Moon Rover

Japan launched a lunar landing spacecraft ``SLIM” in 2023. The spacecraft landed on Moon surface on January 19th 2024, with an accuracy of around 50 meters. The attitude of the landed spacecraft was not perfect, but it survived for several months after landed, when the solar cells of the spacecraft was Sun-shined.

The authors installed a small rover for SLIM spacecraft. The rover named ``LEV-1'' had a mass of approximately 2.1 kilograms, with an autonomous capability to explore around the landing area by a hopping mobile system.

The rover was deployed onto the Moon a few meters above the surface just before the spacecraft landed. After the deployment, it made a fully autonomous exploration with no help from the mother spacecraft. The obtained data were directly transmitted to the Earth with no relay by the lander. The obtained data included images, which disclosed the landed mother spacecraft. The rover survived for 107 minute after the deployment until the loss of the signal on the Ground.

The rover had S-band and UHF transmitters. The S-band transmitter was only used on the Moon, whereas the UHF transmitter was mainly used during the flight to the Moon. LEV-1 required battery charge before the deployment from the mother spacecraft in order to fully charge the onboard battery. During the battery charge operation, the status of the rover was transmitted by UHF radio.

The UHF transmitter used amateur radio frequency and the radio from it was received all over the World. The UHF transmitter was also switched on when the rover was on the Moon surface. Thus LEV-1 became the World-first amateur radio station on the Moon. The main carrier of the UHF ratio included morse code to inform the status by the strength of the signal.

The S-band radio signal was received by several parabolic antennas from domestic space agency and USA Deep Space Network. The domestic antennas only decoded a signal from one spacecraft, and was dedicated to receive the radio from the mother spacecraft. Thus we constructed an independent reception system, which recorded the radio signal from LEV-1. The recorded signal was replayed in our laboratory to extract the telemetry using software GNU-radio technologies.

This paper describes the radio system of LEV-1 rover as well as the actual operation made after the Moon landing.

Speaker: Tetsuo YOSHIMITSU (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)

14:15 Pluto-PYNQ

Software Defined Radios (SDRs) are ubiquitous in modern wireless communications, offering flexibility and reconfigurability across various protocols, such as IEEE 802.11 and 4G LTE. Industry-standard SDR platforms such as the Ettus USRP and Xilinx RFSoC provide considerable wireless capabilities by combining FPGA- and software-based digital signal processing (DSP). However, the high cost of these SDR platforms can make them impractical for student or hobbyist use. In contrast, many entry-level SDRs lack FPGAs entirely. The software-only processing approach reduces cost, but limits both their maximum processing capability and their usefulness as educational tools for FPGA-based DSP.

This research leverages the Analog Devices Pluto SDR, which contains a Xilinx Zynq-7000 System-on-Chip (SoC), to create an accessible and versatile platform for FPGA-based implementation of SDR systems. By integrating Xilinx PYNQ, an embedded Linux framework for simplifying hardware/software co-design on Zynq SoCs, this research provides an isolated environment for developing hardware-accelerated signal processing functions. PYNQ provides a Python interface and Linux kernel drivers for memory-mapped peripherals and direct memory access, so developers can focus on FPGA implementation of DSP algorithms and avoid the overhead of Linux integration. The Pluto-PYNQ system is both an educational tool for learning FPGA signal processing and a platform for practical SDR application development.

The products of this research include the creation of the open-source Pluto-PYNQ Linux environment and an example DSP hardware accelerator. The open-source SDR community benefits from this research through the creation of a low-cost, educationally valuable SDR platform, and the Pluto-PYNQ can be used in advanced collegiate coursework to develop and demonstrate DSP functionality on real over-the-air radio frequency signals.

Speaker: Zachary Hicks

14:30 gr-ieee802-11ah: Extending GNU Radio for HaLow Networks in IoT and UAS

The growing demand for long-range, low-power connectivity in the Internet of Things (IoT), including Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) has led to a renewed interest in IEEE 802.11ah (HaLow), a Wi-Fi standard operating in the sub-1 GHz frequency band. The gr-ieee802-11ah software extends the existing GNU Radio gr-ieee802-11 module to provide SDR access to 802.11ah transmissions, providing researchers, developers, and enthusiasts with a powerful tool for exploring and experimenting with HaLow networks. This package implements key features of the 802.11ah standard, including its unique physical layer (PHY) characteristics and medium access control (MAC) layer functionalities, enabling communication with HaLow-compatible devices. Written as a GNU Radio Companion (GRC) module, gr-ieee802-11ah taps into the flexibility and broad range of tools and test approches in GRC making software package useful for the analysis of HaLow networks, development of custom HaLow tools, security research, and educational exploration of this re-emerging long-range wireless technology.

Speaker: Mr Ronald Broberg (Dark Wolf Solutions)

13:00 → 17:00 Workshop

13:00 Quick Start on Control Loops with Python

on Wednesday
Control loops are ubiquitous in various applications where we wish to maintain or stabilize process variables to a desired set point or value. The speaker, Dan Boschen, brings a wealth of experience in the mixed signal (digital or analog) practical control loop design of microwave synthesizers, modems and radio transceivers, and, most recently, atomic clocks.

In this live workshop, Dan will first provide an overview of control loop theory sufficient for the implementation of a Phase-Lock-Loop (PLL). Topics covered will include:

• Transfer Functions
• Loop Order and Tracking
• Stability
• Bode and Nyquist Plots
• Noise Transfer Functions

PLL implementations in both the analog and all-digital domain will be detailed for practical implementation. The modeling and simulation of control loops will be demonstrated with use of the free Python programming language.
This is a great opportunity for anyone wishing to get a quick jump start on practical control loop implementations in both the digital and analog domains, and to see what Python can offer for use in the simulation and modeling of control loops.

Speaker: Mr Daniel Boschen

14:45 → 15:00 Lightning Talk Block

15:00 → 15:20 PM Break

15:20 → 16:50 Main Track

15:20 Using GNU Radio on a Lunar Rover Ultra-Wide Band Ground Penetrating Radar System

Using GNU Radio on a Lunar Rover Ultra-Wide Band Ground Penetrating Radar System

Aleksandr Dobrev
Aleksandr.Dobrev@astrobotic.com
Astrobotic Technology Inc, 1016 N Lincoln Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15233.

Abstract

The paper provides an overview about an ultra-wide band ground penetrating radar system designed for space applications that is being developed by Astrobotic, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Ohio State University and how the GNU Radio software plays a role in driving the software defined radios onboard this system.

1. Introduction

The Under-Rover Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) Non-Contact Ground Penetrating Radar Antenna (GPR) is a project funded through NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. A forward looking use case of GPR is to provide a low size, weight, and power (SWaP) radar system that can be mounted on mobile rovers, such as Astrobotic’s CubeRovers, to make surveying and science of sub-lunar surface more accessible to future lunar missions by enabling the detection of subsurface lunar features such as lunar lava tubes, subsurface water-ice, and planetary ore deposits [1].

2. Scope of Demonstration

The technical scope of the demonstration of GPR is to perform an extremely wide frequency sweep, ranging from 130 MHz to 2 GHz, and record the Radio Frequency (RF) data reflected from the lunar surface [2]. However, the ultimate purpose of the demonstration of this project is to mimic the real concept of operations (CONOPS) that could take place in the near future when such a system is deployed on celestial bodies such as other planets, moons, and asteroids. To accomplish this, two rovers, at varying distance, would each be equipped with a software defined radio (SDR) which would enable performing a bi-static measurement throughout the wide-band frequency range. Furthermore, in order to ensure timing accuracy between the two rovers, the system clocks of the two SDRs are synchronized. For this demonstration, this is achieved by having a mock lunar lander that transmits a synchronization signal via a separate radio which is then received and processed by a compute unit onboard each of the rovers and then fed into the synchronization ports of each SDR.

3. Usage of GNU Radio

To command and control the RF and utilize the digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities of the SDRs that are part of the GPR system, the GNU Radio software development toolkit is one of the major components that is used to achieve this. Flowgraphs created using GNU Radio Companion (GRC) enable the SDRs to transmit, receive, perform signal processing, and record signal information at varying frequencies to carry out the GPR demonstration.

4. Conclusion and Acknowledgments

Astrobotic is working jointly with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Ohio State University (OSU) to develop the GPR technology for surveying planetary subsurface and to further progress the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the system. However, the benefits associated with a mobile GPR system spans beyond the scope of this SBIR as such technology can be used not only for outer space application but also for construction, mapping structure integrity, characterizing hazardous waste leakage, and identifying archaeological artifacts here on earth [3]. Finally, it is important to acknowledge the software and tools established by GNU Radio. The infrastructure and community it provides has a significant impact towards enabling companies and organizations to more quickly develop and test RF components of complex and novel systems such as GPR to aid with engineering and science objectives both terrestrially and beyond.

References

[1] Under-rover ultra-wide band Non-Contact ground penetrating radar antenna. Under-Rover Ultra-Wide Band Non-Contact Ground Penetrating Radar Antenna | SBIR.gov. (n.d.). https://www.sbir.gov/node/1670745
[2] C. Harlow, C. -C. Chen, T. Arbuckle and K. Quinn, "Compact Ultra-Wideband Ground Penetrating Radar Antenna for A Cube Rover," 2022 Antenna Measurement Techniques Association Symposium (AMTA), Denver, CO, USA, 2022, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.23919/AMTA55213.2022.9954948. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9954948
[3] NASA TechPort. (n.d.). Project Data. https://techport.nasa.gov/view/113016

Speaker: Aleksandr Dobrev

15:50 GNU Radio Software Defined Radio University Laboratory Curriculum Using the Lime Mini SDR 2.0, Raspberry Pi 5.0, and Raspberry Pi Zero 2.0 computers utilizing Project-Based Learning.

A graduate level course and summer research program covering Software Defined Radio topics is offered by the California Polytechnic State University Electrical Engineering Department. This presentation will outline the laboratory portion of the course that was developed and is available to the open-source community. The GNU Radio laboratory curriculum used the recently introduced Lime Mini 2.0 SDR along with the Raspberry Pi 5 and Raspberry Pi Zero 2 computers. The challenges, successes, and the laboratory curriculum for getting hardware and GNU Radio software compatibility using this equipment will be presented. Each of the students in the course was required to produce a custom GNU radio project that will be summarized and shared. The developed GNU radio laboratory curriculum will also form the basis for a 16- student summer undergraduate research program at Cal Poly. The focus of the 2024 summer research program will be using GNU radio to form mesh networks that are compatible with the open-source, LoRa based Cluster Duck Protocol (www.clusterduckprotocol.org). Highlights of the GNU Radio mesh-network summer undergraduate research program will be presented at the conference.

Speaker: Liam McCarthy (Cal Poly SLO)

16:20 Open Source HDL/IP and Software Components for Building Leading-Edge SDRs

Abstract: The journey of a developer in the realm of software-defined radio (SDR) often commences with the utilization of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) SDR modules. These modules are pivotal for initial proof of concept and the development of algorithms, where the decision to make or buy is a straightforward one. However, for some, this journey extends beyond the preliminary phase, culminating in the creation of custom hardware designs that incorporate discrete digitizers and FPGA systems.

This presentation will provide a concise introduction to the interface-level open-source HDL/IP blocks and the accompanying software drivers and infrastructure offered by Analog Devices Inc. These tools are meticulously designed to facilitate the development of SDR systems with bandwidth capabilities ranging from 0.01 to 18GHz. We will highlight how these components not only support GNU Radio streaming (depending on the bandwidth) but also provide varying degrees of control support.

Attendees will gain valuable insights into the open-source resources that enable and accelerate the design of cutting-edge SDR systems, from the RF interface to buffer management and beyond. Join us to discover how embracing open-source HDL/IP and software components are empowering developers to push the frontiers of SDR technology in the ever-evolving world of wireless communication.

Speaker: Michael Hennerich (Analog Devices GmbH)

17:00 → 20:00 Social: Meet and Greet

Thursday, 19 September

08:15 → 09:00 Conference Check-in

09:00 → 09:45 Keynote: Thursday Keynote

09:00 Philip Erickson

09:45 → 10:45 Project Talk

09:45 SigMF Update

Will make title more interesting and fill out abstract later- this is a placeholder

Speaker: Dr Marc Lichtman

10:45 → 11:00 AM Break

10:45 → 17:00 Capture the Flag (CTF)

Capture the flag (CTF) is a competition where contestants earn points by finding secret messages ("flags") hidden in radio signals. Challenge yourself and improve your GNU Radio skills!

10:45 → 17:00 Expo Hall

11:00 → 11:45 Main Track

11:00 Sponsor Talk: Oak Ridge National Labs

Speaker: ORNL

11:15 Progressing 802.11ah Implementation in GNU Radio with gr-halow

IEEE 802.11ah, also known as “Wi-Fi HaLow”, provides a Wi-Fi implementation in sub-1GHz frequency ranges. Due to its lower operating frequency than traditional Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi HaLow trades diminished data rates for longer transmission distances. This balance is favorable to internet-of-things (IoT) and other long-range applications. Despite these benefits, commercial implementations of HaLow are not as ubiquitous as other IoT protocols such as IEEE 802.15.4, LoRa, or Wi-Fi. This talk aims to explore 802.11ah and strives to create a first-of-its-kind open-source implementation of the protocol in GNU Radio: "gr-halow". Live analysis of communication between two commercial Wi-Fi HaLow modules will provide an intuitive understanding of HaLow’s functionality and capabilities. The talk will also demonstrate whether a computer, connected to an SDR and running GNU Radio, will be able to appear as a third client on the network. The open-source code base for gr-halow is still in development, but exploring the progression of the out-of-tree module will enable researchers, developers, and hobbyists to experiment with 802.11ah-based solutions using SDRs without the need to rely on commercial hardware implementations.

Speaker: Samuel Miller

11:45 → 12:00 Lightning Talk Block

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 14:45 Main Track

13:00 Motion correction for magnetic resonance imaging using software-defined radio — how the GNU Radio ecosystem facilitates prototyping in academic research

Introduction

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a key technique in radiology. Its offers excellent soft-tissue contrast and rich insight into the structure and function of the human body, making it an indispensable tool in modern medicine for the diagnosis of many diseases and for treatment monitoring.

The signal amplitude of the underlying nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon is very weak, however, which results in relatively long acquisition times. This makes the acquisition susceptible to corruption by motion, which is one of the leading causes of non-diagnostic exams in clinical practice. Motion in this context includes both voluntary movement and physiological motion such as the beating heart or respiration.
Imaging can be particularly challenging in the sickest patients, who often struggle with lying still or following breathing instructions.

Various strategies have been developed to handle motion in MRI. These strategies can be divided into prospective techniques, where data is acquired only during a defined motion state, and retrospective techniques, where data is acquired continuously, and motion is compensated for after the scan during the image reconstruction.
Most approaches require a motion signal, which can be derived from the MRI data itself or from external sensors placed in close proximity to the MRI scanner (but operating independently from the imaging apparatus).
Several such motion sensors have been proposed, e.g., ultrasound sensors, optical cameras, radar, and other radiofrequency-based techniques.

In this work, we describe the development of a radar sensor that can be used to monitor human subject motion during an MRI examination, utilizing GNU Radio as a platform for rapid prototyping.

Development and Initial Results

We implemented the radar system using GNU Radio and a networked SDR (USRP N310, Ettus Research).
Two antennas (1x Tx, 1x Rx) were mounted in a bistatic configuration on a half-cylindrical scaffold, which fits over the subject inside the bore of a clinical MRI scanner. We utilized an ultra-wideband antipodal Vivaldi antenna design, which was optimized for near-field microwave imaging at frequencies between 0.6 and 10 GHz. To suppress common-mode currents on the outer shield of the conductor cables induced by the radiofrequency (RF) pulses of the MRI scanner, cable traps were attached to the antenna cables.

A continuous-wave Doppler regime was employed to sense motion, transmitting a 1 kHz tone at various carrier frequencies. The Doppler phase shift between forward and reflected waves served as the motion signal and was derived in real-time using GNU Radio digital signal processing logic.
The radar operated completely independently from the MRI scanner. Therefore, it was required to synchronize the two data streams in time to make use of the radar-derived motion signal for MRI motion correction.
For this purpose, the RF pulses emitted during an imaging scan were captured on the second channel of the SDR tuned to 63.64 MHz, close to the operational frequency of the MRI scanner (i.e., the Larmor frequency of protons at 1.5 T magnetic field strength).

Recorded signal data was archived in the Signal Metadata Format (SigMF), as standardized by the community. This machine-readable format helps in organizing large collections of experimental raw data and facilitates the automated and reproducible generation of scientific results.

Doppler signals were acquired concomitantly with MRI scans in a motion phantom and in human volunteers.
The motion phantom serves as a 'test bed' for the technical development of the radar motion sensor. It was designed and 3D printed in-house and consists of a pendulum moving inside a water tank, simulating internal organ motion. The pendulum is actuated by an Arduino microcontroller connected to a stepper motor (located outside the magnet bore). The pendulum can be readily visualized on MR images in order to correlate its position in space over time with the radar signal.
Using cine MRI of the chest in a human volunteer at a frame rate of 4.4 fps, we tracked the movement of the diaphragm, representing a ground truth for respiratory motion.
The Doppler radar-derived motion signal showed good to excellent agreement with this image-based reference, depending on the carrier frequency and breathing pattern (Pearson's coefficient of correlation: 0.73 - 0.95).
Finally, a high-resolution 3D volumetric MRI scan of the liver was performed with the subject breathing freely. Raw data from this acquisition was retrospectively corrected for respiratory motion based on the radar signal, resulting in improved image sharpness.

Outlook

As proof of concept, we showed that the prototype radar sensor was able to detect and correct for respiratory motion in humans undergoing an MRI scan.
The flexible nature of the GNU Radio platform enabled quick iteration cycles, which has proven very useful in the development and experimental validation of this technique.
Going forward, we plan to explore on-the-fly adaptation and calibration of operational parameters using custom GNU Radio blocks. This would enable tailoring the system to an individual subject, as the propagation and scattering of electromagnetic waves inside the body strongly depend on electromagnetic tissue properties. The influence of individual organs and their motion could thus be more accurately traced.
Further directions for future research are the application of pulsed radar techniques and multiple input/multiple output antenna configurations, as well as as utilization of the GNU radio platform for triggering the MRI scanner based on the internal motion states of the body.

Funding Acknowledgment

Supported through grant funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG, grant no. 512359237) and from the National Institutes of Health (P41 EB017183).

Speaker: Dr Christoph Maier (NYU Grossman School of Medicine)

13:15 Automating System Tests in GNU Radio Companion

The GNU Radio project and its graphical editor, GNU Radio Companion (GRC), have significantly lowered the barriers to entry into Software Defined Radio (SDR) applications in hobbyist, academic, commercial settings alike. Unit tests help build confidence in the proper functioning and robustness of projects using GNU Radio. However, the unit tests supported by GNU Radio must be developed in Python or C++ and do not share the same approachability as GRC flowgraphs. This talk presents a new testing workflow to augment existing low-level unit testing by enabling the development of complex system-level tests without leaving the GRC environment. Users define test conditions and pass/fail criteria using intuitive Out-Of-Tree (OOT) blocks, and external Python scripts execute the tests. This talk also presents mixed-medium automated testing setups and results with Software-In-the-Loop (SIL) models as well as Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) tests using SDRs and a TAS 4500 Flex channel emulator.

Speaker: Chris Stringer (nou Systems, Inc.)

13:45 OFDM based Radar Sensing using Compressed Sensing

Abstract — This paper discusses an approach for increasing
the resolution of an OFDM-based joint communication and sensing (JCAS) system, while keeping the used Spectrum constant. Against the background of the ever-increasing congestion of the spectrum, the fusion of discontinuous bands for radar sensing was recently discussed. In the context of communication-centric JCAS, the signal properties are designed to ensure efficient and reliable communications.
Meanwhile, sensing requires high bandwidths in order to assure resolution, which conflicts with the usually spectral efficient signal design for mobile communications, using as little bandwidth as needed. Assuming a multi-carrier signal, the signal can be sent in the manner of a gapped-spectrum. This means a signal will be emitted in which the carriers are distributed across the spectrum, leaving spectral gaps other participants may use for communication without deteriorating the performance of the JCAS- Systems' sensing capability. The carriers will become the supporting points for the sensing and since they are distributed over the available spectrum the bandwidth can artificially be increased for better resolution. With respect to the radar sensing, this structure defines a problem solvable by Compressed Sensing (CS). The algorithm is designed and shown in a simulation and proven to work in a lab setup using software defined radios (SDRs) which send and receive the data using GNURadio, currently the CS processing for radar sensing is done offline using python.

Speaker: Ruben Thill

14:15 Challenges when implementing a standalone GNURadio-based DSP application from scratch

Developing a standalone Digital Signal Processing (DSP) application from scratch presents several unforeseen challenges, each critical to achieving a high-performance solution. For our work we had to create a reliable and efficient standalone DSP application, based on a GNU Radio flowgraph, while addressing technical hurdles that arise throughout the development process. We’d like to share some hard lessons we learned along the way and we think the significance of this talk will lie in its potential to provide a robust reference for other developers in the DSP community. Key challenges include ensuring memory alignment for Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter taps, as misalignment can lead to bugs that are very hard to track down, and addressing symbol synchronization, for which a simple implementation of the Mueller and Muller algorithm is often chosen due to its effectiveness, while writing extensive integration and performance tests is crucial for ensuring the robustness and efficiency of the end application. Further on, we have integrated a simple but effective plotting solution using Python, which proves invaluable for visualizing and debugging signal processing results. Visualizations prove to be invaluable for understanding the application's behavior and performance more clearly. We would also like to highlight that using Graphics Processing Units to significantly enhance the performance of filtering can be rather easy and will result in increased performance for most DSP operations in the context of satellite TT&C communications.

Speaker: Vassilen Alexandrov (EnduroSat)

13:00 → 15:00 Workshop

13:00 Getting Started with GNURadio in the Classroom

An increasing number of educational institutions
make use of SDRs as a low-cost means of demonstrating
a wide range of communication system applications.
However, due to the interrelationship between various
hardware and software configurations, this approach introduces
significant logistical and pedagogical complexities.
As with any open source project, getting started with
GNURadio in the classroom can be a daunting prospect;
furthermore, the wide range of available hardware can
make navigating the landscape even more complicated. This
short course aims to fill this gap by providing a sufficient
foundation for classroom SDR usage, including lessons
learned from several years experience in the following
areas:
• SDR hardware overview and recommendations
• SDR configuration
• Software configuration
• Curriculum topics
• Potential hands-on projects
• Question/Answer time

Speaker: Neil Rogers (USAFA)

14:45 → 15:00 Lightning Talk Block

15:00 → 15:20 PM Break

15:00 → 17:00 Workshop

15:00 Introduction to RF Processing for Satellite Constellations

The "New Space" era has spurred rapid advancements in satellite systems, rekindling interest in technologies like LEO CubeSats, satellite mega-constellations, and satellite swarms. These technological advancements support various applications in SATCOM, such as broadband, Internet-of-Things (IoT), Positioning and Navigation (PNT), and the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks under 3GPP.

The complex interaction of terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication payloads demands rigorous simulation, yet a lack of transparent, standardized tools currently hampers reproducibility and collaboration.

This workshop introduces a novel, open-source, modular simulation framework developed in Python, designed to simplify and standardize the simulation of satellite communication systems. By providing a user-friendly and collaborative platform, this framework facilitates rapid prototyping, supports novice users in exploring space technology, and meets the sophisticated needs of the NTN research community. After outlining the framework's key features, such as scenario creation, satellite propagation, and RF link emulation, we put its capabilities to the test by interactively implementing the following scenarios in Jupyter Notebooks:

• Coverage analysis of satellite mega-constellations
• RF emulation of IQ baseband of space-to-Earth links
• Interference analysis for a direct-to-cell (D2C) link
• Applications of dynamic distributed satellite systems (swarms)

Additionally, we provide a brief user guide to help researchers integrate their own code, enhancing research reproducibility and collaborative potential.

Speakers: Michael Petry, Mr Kevin Li (University of the Bundeswehr Munich)

15:20 → 17:05 Main Track

15:20 Reverse Engineering a Consumer Wireless Device

This talk will cover the process of reverse engineering the packet format used by a wireless thermometer and the development of a receiver using GNU Radio. Temperature measurements will be passed from GNU Radio to a web server that will be used to visualize the data received.

Speaker: Jason Bonior (Red Wire Technologies)

15:35 Adding Pluto/Phaser Radar support into gr-plasma

The gr-plasma OOT module was developed by Shane Flandermeyer and the University of Oklahoma to implement radar signal processing functions in GNU Radio. GR-plasma integrates waveform generation, matched filtering, doppler processing, CFAR detection, and range-doppler plotting. However, accessing all these features has only been possible with UHD devices from Ettus research. In this session, we will demonstrate how to add Pluto and Phaser (CN0566) support into this radar module.

Speakers: Dr Justin Metcalf (OU), Jon Kraft (Analog Devices)

16:05 Enhanced Capabilities of the ADALM-PLUTO for GNU Radio Enthusiasts

The ADALM-PLUTO SDR has become a cornerstone in the toolkit of GNU Radio enthusiasts, In this presentation, we delve into it's latest feature's and enhancements.
Key Topics covered will include:

1. New TDD engine to control the timing of transmit and receive! This allows for pulse compression radar and advanced communications setups.

2. Tips and tricks for using the 2nd transmit and receive channel. Setup, integration with GRC, and improving performance (some soldering required...).

3. Shared context mode to access Pluto data remotely.

Speaker: Jon Kraft (Analog Devices)

16:20 Enabling Integrated Circuit-Based Full-Duplex Wireless in GNU Radio

Full-duplex (FD) wireless communication, the simultaneous transmission and reception of wireless signals on the same frequency channel, has garnered significant attention from the research community over the past decade. Software-defined radio (SDR) has become instrumental in bridging the gap from theory to implementation, providing the flexibility necessary to design and deploy FD radio nodes, links, and networks. As part of the Full-Duplex Wireless: From Integrated Circuits to Networks (FlexICoN) project, we have developed three generations of IC-based FD radios that utilize GNU Radio as the primary control and signal processing platform. This paper presents an overview of the design considerations and techniques for implementing FD in GNU Radio, from the transmit and receive signal processing chains to broader testbed integration.

Speakers: Alon Levin (Columbia University), Manav Kohli (Columbia University)

16:35 Container-Based GNU Radio Development Framework

When using GNU Radio in a development environment, ensuring that all of its dependencies are met and that there are no conflicts is often a non-trivial process, especially when updating to new versions. This process can become even more involved and complicated when out-of-tree (OOT) modules are incorporated. In addition, even if there are little to no issues on one machine, replicating this exact environment on another machine can be time consuming and difficult if the machines are dissimilar. Using containerization, we present a framework that is suitable for development and distribution, supports multiple architectures, and has a minimal learning curve.

Speaker: Tyler McCormick

18:00 → 21:00 Social: Thursday Social

Friday, 20 September

08:15 → 09:00 Conference Check-in

09:00 → 09:45 Keynote: Friday Keynote

09:45 → 10:15 Main Track

09:45 Distributed Analysis of Wireless at Nextscale

Distributed Analysis of Wireless at Nextscale (DAWN) is a novel simulation framework for large-scale designspace exploration (DSE) of unmodified software defined radio (SDR) applications interacting in a scalable, high-fidelity, virtual physics environment. The software-defined nature of the coupled software-based physics simulation leverages hardware emulation to permit in-depth examination and modification of not only the electromagnetic environment, including each signal in flight, but also the precise state of system software and components. DAWN supports modular, customizable physics environments allowing realistic propagation effects so that computationally efficient empirical models, reduced order/surrogate models, or large-scale, high-fidelity, site-specific simulations can be used as a propagation medium based on scenario requirements. DAWN uses GNU Radio in multiple ways including the channel simulation components and unmodified example SDR applications that run in the virtualized environment. This talk introduces DAWN’s design and initial implementation, detailing key architectural components, including the Physics Realization Engine (PhyRE), Runtime Infrastructure for Simulation Environments (RISE), and the design space exploration (DSE) suite. We also highlight how GNU Radio is integrated into the design and demonstrate how unmodified flowgraphs can be integrated and tested on computing resources ranging from a small cluster to ORNL’s Frontier Exascale system.

Speakers: Dr Michael Wise (ORNL), Dr Seth Hitefield (ORNL)

10:15 → 10:30 AM Break

10:15 → 13:00 Expo Hall

10:30 → 11:45 Main Track

10:30 Implementation of a Multi-Channel DASH7 IoT Communication System for Packet Investigation and Validation

The Internet of Things market has emerged over the past decades and maintains to grow. Therefore, IoT devices have become omnipresent. Many of these devices use a wireless connection to send and receive data. Many of these wireless connections are based upon Low Power Wide Area Network protocols such as NB-IoT, LoRa or Sigfox. Due to the increasing amount of IoT devices, these LPWAN protocols will become even more important. However, many of these protocols are proprietary and therefore it remains unknown how they exactly operate. We dive into the inner workings of one of these LPWAN protocols. More specifically, we investigate the PHY of the DASH7 Alliance Protocol (D7AP). We present a fully-fledged DASH7 communication system using GNU Radio. The software can be used as a simulation instrument and can be applied in real-life scenarios by using low-cost Software-Defined Radios. In this way, it is possible to investigate a complete IoT transceiver system that is open-source and easily adaptable. Furthermore, it can be used to build up, investigate and validate DASH7 data packets.

Speaker: Dennis Joosens (University of Antwerp -imec)

11:00 Using GNU Radio in a Multipath Environment

Having used GNU radio for a number of years, it has many worthy applications. One such use has been propagating data using ultrasound in a variety of material such as air, water and steel. The modulation protocol used to date has been binary FSK (some ASK/PSK have also been used), however these protocols do not handle multipath well. For this application we would look to use OFDM, however OFDM is normally used in a broadband application, where many subcarriers can be created, using it in an application that has limited bandwidth can be challenging. The bandwidth I have available is less than 1 Kilohertz, as such the scaling and management of the subcarriers can be difficult. Sound waves travelling in solids can be made up of transverse and longitudinal waves, the sensors receiving this mixed signal have to be able to filter out the unwanted signal so the modulated data can be extracted with the minimum number of errors. In liquids and air, shields can be employed on the receiving sensor to limit the unwanted signal picked up by the transducer, however in solids this is not possible. My objective is to modulate data in steel rail using GNU radio at a data rate that has useful and practical application. This paper explores these issues and how GNU radio can be employed to create duplex channels in ultrasound that can be used for data communications.

Speaker: Mr Michael Alldritt

11:30 TorchSig: A GNU Radio Block & New Tools for Augmenting ML Training with Real World Data

The 15-minute talk and paper will consist of three main points: background and description of TorchSig, recent updates and improvements to the system, and future plans for the release of tools to augment training methods using real world data. The goal is to demonstrate a Torchsig ML inference model running within GNU Radio and to also present new machine-learning (ML) tools to the GNU Radio community for training new ML models, performing ML-based signal detection and modulation recognition, and to solicit feedback and ideas for how that is useful to the GNU Radio community.

TorchSig is an open source machine-learning (ML) framework for doing signal detection and modulation recognition. It is able to do modulation recognition over 53 different signals including quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), frequency shift keying (FSK), Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK), different OFDM variants and many others. TorchSig has an extensive library of modulators to generate synthetic waveforms and datasets and utilities which demonstrate how to train an ML model which can then be used for practical applications.

A series of improvements have been made to the codebase, such as reducing the time required to generate datasets, improved DSP implementations such as sidelobe reduction in resampling filters to reduce aliased images, better implementation of G/FSK and G/MSK modulators, and increasing the randomness in datasets to improve training efficiency. Additional DSP and system-level improvements are planned and will be discussed.

A new tool is being developed and will be released to allow ML training to be augmented by real world data using the Label Studio tool. TorchSig currently trains on synthetic modulated IQ data which has been impaired through various transforms, however better ML performance can be obtained by including real world data into the training pipeline. Label Studio allows portions of real world IQ captures to be annotated with modulation labels, allowing the real world data to be used in ML training. The objective is the release of this tool to allow users to train an ML model with their custom datasets. The talk and paper will include examples of this training tool with the real world data from IARPA’s SCISRS.

Speakers: Matt Carrick, Phil Vallance

11:45 → 12:00 Project Talk: GRCon Main Track Closing

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 16:00 Hands-On Activities