The Xilinx Zynq: A Modern System on Chip for Software Defined Radios

  • Software defined radios can be implemented on general purpose processors (CPUs), e.g. based on a PC. A processor offers high flexibility: It can not only be used to process the data samples, but also to control receiver functions, display a waterfall or run demodulation software. However, processors can only handle signals of limited bandwidth due to their comparatively low processing speed. For signals of high bandwidth the SDR algorithms have to be implemented as custom designed digital circuits on an FPGA chip. An FPGA provides a very high processing speed, but also lacks flexibility and user interfaces. Recently the FPGA manufacturer Xilinx has introduced a hybrid system on chip called Zynq, that combines both approaches. It features a dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor and an FPGA, that offer the flexibility of a processor with the processing speed of an FPGA on a single chip. The Zynq is therefore very interesting for use in SDRs. In this paper the application of the Zynq and its evaluation board (Zedboard) will be discussed. As an example, a direct sampling receiver has been implemented on the Zedboard using a high-speed 16 bit ADC with 250 Msps.

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Author:Stefan Scholl
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:386-kluedo-44425
Document Type:Article
Language of publication:English
Date of Publication (online):2016/09/07
Year of first Publication:2016
Publishing Institution:Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Date of the Publication (Server):2016/09/07
Tag:ARM Processor; Direct Sampling Receiver; FPGA; Hardware; Linux; SDR; Software Defined Radio; Wideband; Zedboard; Zynq
GND Keyword:System-on-Chip; Hardware; FPGA; Software-Defined Radio; Breitbandempfänger
Page Number:7
Faculties / Organisational entities:Kaiserslautern - Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
CCS-Classification (computer science):B. Hardware / B.0 GENERAL
DDC-Cassification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 600 Technik
Licence (German):Standard gemäß KLUEDO-Leitlinien vom 30.07.2015