Implementation of reconfigurable software radio for multiple wireless standards

The commercial success of personal wireless communications has resulted in a fast-paced technology and a proliferation of standards. We present a detailed description of a software reconfigurable radio that configures itself to demodulate one of multiple wireless PCS standard formats. One such PCS standard is IS-136, which has a carrier spacing of 30 kHz, operates in the 880-960 MHz band in the US and uses pi/4-DQPSK modulation. Another PCS standard is GSM, which occupies the 824-894 MHz band in Europe and uses GMSK modulation with a 200 kHz carrier. The software-based radio we describe can configure itself to the appropriate center frequency, bandwidth, and data rate of both standards. The design methodology for implementation and testing of a reconfigurable radio is reported.