Software Defined Radio: Architectures, Systems and Functions

Preface

It is not uncommon for breakthrough concepts in wireless communications to take a considerable time to mature and gain momentum. In this respect, Software Defined Radio (SDR) is no exception, evolving very slowly from its military origin. J. Mitola first defined the area and also coined the term back in 1991 while Steinbrecher made initial investigations on the suitability of Software Radio in implementing multi-standard, flexible, smart base stations. As J. Mitola pointed out in his keynote speech at the 1st European Workshop on Software Radio in May 1997 when he referred to the slow start of SDR in the United States: … it was not that the technology was not within reach, but rather the fact that commercial applications are quite cost sensitive. A renewal of interest in the area occurred around 1996 driven by two events, namely the creation of the Modular Multifunction Information Transfer System (MMITS) Forum¹ in March 1996, and the launch of the first European research project on SDR in the context of the Advanced Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) programme of European Union (EU) funded research and development (R&D).

One could say that the title of the first European research project in this area was prophetic as very becomingly it was entitled FIRST (Flexible Integrated Radio Systems Technology). Observing the rising interest by the international research community in what was still known at that time as S/W radio technologies, the European Commission ...