Two tutorials based on the RFSoC were held in 2021, at the ISFPGA and the EUSIPCO conferences. These tutorials were based on the earlier RFSoC 2x2 kit which features a RFSoC Gen1 with 2x 4 GSPS ADCs and 2x 6.554 GSPS DACs. The RFSoC 4x2 is an enhanced version of this board. Both tutorials are available on-demand below.
Speakers: Patrick Lysaght (Xilinx Research Labs), Prof. Robert W. Stewart (University of Strathclyde), Dr Louise Crockett (University of Strathclyde), David Northcote (University of Strathclyde)
In this tutorial we present a single board, fully integrated Software Defined Radio platform for teaching, research and design. Working live on the tutorial we will feature the Xilinx University Program (XUP) RFSoC 2×2 Board which features 4GHz sampling rate RF ADCs and RF DACs, and an ARM based processing system and FPGA programmable logic facility. The RFSoC 2×2 Board uses the PYNQ open-source framework and an easy to use browser-based system interface exploits features of Linux, Python and Jupyter notebooks. In the tutorial attendees will learn how to take direct off the air signals for TV, radio, mobile, wireless, and so on, and down convert, channelize and then investigate the received signal features, including spectral analysis, modulation schemes and other features. A key feature of the RFSoC DACs and ADCs is their ability to receive and transmit in higher order Nyquist bands, and the tutorial will therefore feature architectures to directly receive and transmit in the 2nd order Nyquist bands (2GHz to 4GHz) on the RFSoC 2×2.
| Section 1: RFSoC Overview | Section 2: RFSoC-PYNQ Framework |
| Section 3: SDR on RFSoC | Section 4: Demo: First steps with RFSoC |
| Section 5: "New DSP" for RFSoC | Section 6: RF ADCs, DACs, DDCs & DUCs |
| Section 7: Spectrum Analyzer Overview | Section 8: Demo: Spectrum Analyzer |
| Section 9: Frequency Planning & Examples | Section 10: Communications Design Example |
| Section 11: Wrap-up and call to participate |
Speakers: Patrick Lysaght (Xilinx Research Labs), Prof. Robert W. Stewart (University of Strathclyde), David Brubaker (Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC product manager)
The benefits of integrating direct RF sampling data converters were demonstrated by introducing a novel, open-source spectrum analyzer built using the new board. This RFSoC design exploits advanced signal processing techniques, including higher-order Nyquist zones, to demonstrate performance that has only previously been achieved on very high-end instrumentation. Using the spectrum analyzer example, we will also demonstrate new approaches to the rapid prototyping of graphical user interfaces for research demonstrators.
| Links to YouTube chapters | Presentation |
|---|---|
| Introduction (0:00) | |
| RFSoC Family overview (2:50) | |
| RFSoC 2x2 project overview (23:13) | |
| RFSoC 2x2 demonstrations, education support, and SDR design notebooks (49:12) | |
| Setting up the RFSoC 2x2 (54:49) | |
| Nyquist Zones (57:38) RF ADC and RF DAC 1st and 2nd order Nyquist Zones |
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| Wireless Comms/SDR design educational Jupyter notebooks (1:00:18) Available notebooks covering fundamental and advanced DSP concepts |
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| Spectrum Analyzer Notebook demo (1:06:15) Jupyter Notebook Spectrum Analyzer running on the RFSoC 2x2 board |
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| Frequency Planning demo (1:33:07) Jupyter Notebook frequency planner |
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| Next steps (1:37:59) How to Purchase an RFSoC 2x2 and available resources |