A hierarchical modeling approach in software defined radio system design

This paper presents a functional model based on a hierarchical architecture template meeting with software defined radio system requirements (SDR Systems). The concepts and mechanisms required to design future reconfigurable system architectures are addressed in the paper. The definition of the new features requested in such architectures is based on a functional analysis of a multi-standards transmitter (i.e. UMTS/FDD uplink, GSM uplink, and 802.11g OFDM mode). Taking into account this application analysis we propose a hierarchical modeling based on a double path. In addition to a classical data path for processing, a configuration management path has been integrated. This model aims at helping the design and management of a heterogeneous dynamically reconfigurable hardware architecture for SDR terminals.