ect, two software-defined radio systems from Ettus Research were used: the USRP E110 and the USRP N210. Table 1 shows the features of these two systems.
Project phases and design
The design of the Mode S transponder and the ADS-B were separated into several phases. This strategy has several advantages. First of all, it simplifies the development process by allowing us to develop and test only one part of the system at a time, which also makes the debugging phase easier. Second, it makes the system far more portable, because if there is a change in platform, only a few steps have to be redone. Third, it simplifies optimization by making it easy to isolate those processes that are demanding too many resources. Lastly, this architecture meets an industry need: the latest avionic architectures are highly modular and provide greater flexibility by allowing the processes to be separated into different pieces of equipment and by sharing resources with several technologies.
We were thus able to integrate the DME and ADS-B/Out functions into the USRP E110, along with an interface that let us test the system with a flight simulator. However, we developed the systems on the radio’s Cortex-A8 processor, which has such limited resources that we could not get the DME and the ADS-B to work in parallel. To overcome this problem, we will have to begin developing on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), which is far faster and offers more resources. Also, the software that we develop in future will run on new software-defined radio systems from NUTAQ.
All of these projects mesh with the development plans of several major players in the aviation industry, such as Bombardier and Marinvent.
William Coady has completed a Bachelor, and a Master degree in Electrical Engineering at ÉTS, specializing in embedded systems for aerospace. He explore various fields, such as software-defined radio development at ÉTS LASSENA laboratory.
Program : Electrical Engineering
Research laboratories : LASSENA – Laboratory of Space Technologies, Embedded Systems, Navigation and Avionic
René Jr Landry
René Jr Landry is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at ÉTS and the Director of LASSENA. His expertise in embedded systems, navigation, and avionics applies notably in transportation, aeronautics and space technologies.
Program : Electrical Engineering
Research laboratories : LACIME – Communications and Microelectronic Integration Laboratory LASSENA – Laboratory of Space Technologies, Embedded Systems, Navigation and Avionic
Research laboratories :
Field(s) of expertise :
Navigation Robustness, Jamming & Anti-Jamming Technologies Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC) Satellite Radio-Navigation (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Compass) Indoor Positioning & Navigation Inertial Navigation System (INS) Differential Navitation (DGPS, WAAS, EGNOS) GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Communication & Wireless Communication MEMS Sensors (Systèmes Micro Électroniques) & RFID Conception of Digital Receiver & Simulator Embedded Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Real-Time & High Speed Processing Embedded Systems Embedded Electronics in Space & Aeronautical (Satellites-Aviation) Avionic Systems (ADS-B, DME, ILS, GPS, transponder, etc.) High Precision Positioning & Real-Time Kinematic (RTK)