Fast Software-Defined Radio-based System Performance Evaluation for Real-time Adaptive RF Systems

The increased congestion of the wireless environment requires that devices adapt to the available spectrum in order to ensure efficient use of available resources. Reconfigurable amplifier matching circuits can be optimized in real-time to improve output power and spectral performance upon shifting to a new operating frequency. However, such devices require real-time, on-board measurements that are able to quickly and accurately determine output power and spectrum to guide real-time reconfiguration optimization techniques. This paper demonstrates the control and performance of such measurements with a software-defined radio (SDR) platform. To demonstrate measurement capabilities and accuracy, load-pull measurements of a test amplifier are performed with the SDR platform and compared with an industry-standard load-pull system, achieving 20x speed improvements while maintaining consistency and accuracy.