Dynamic Propagation Channel Evaluation with Software Defined Radio Architectures

This contribution discusses a software defined radio (SDR) measurement environment for emulating dynamic propagation channels and a corresponding analysis of the receiver settings’ effects. As a fundamental example to be investigated, a scenario with a moving aircraft in landing approach is taken with a commercially available navigation receiver, the settings of which can be adjusted. The corresponding synthesis of the navigation signal to be fed into the SDR is explained. It comprises both the conversion from the navigation signal of an antenna array in spatial domain to the time domain and the sampling of the aircraft’s motion. Measurements with a navigation receiver validate the SDR environment, and finally a dynamic multipath propagation scenario is set up to demonstrate the effect of the receiver’s setting, such as measurement time. With respect to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) the proposed SDR environment allows an application-based assessment of error contributions, e.g., due to multipath propagation, which exceeds the usual EMC concept of solely static limits for system disturbances. Additionally, hardware requirements of the SDR are addressed.