Multi-Mode reconfigurable Software Defined Radio architecture for avionic radios

This paper presents an architecture using Software Defined Radio (SDR) techniques to integrate multiple avionic radios in a single hardware module. This architecture allows avionic radio functions to share the same computational and hardware resources, run simultaneously numerous avionic radios, and dynamically reconfigure the resource allocation depending on the current active radio sets (or modes). This work aims to address two main challenges of avionics design: reducing the Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWAP-C), and future proofing of the design to cope with the continuous changes in standards and communication needs. The presented prototype integrates five radio applications: four CNS/ATM commercially existing applications, namely Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) OUT, ADS-B IN and Transponder Mode-S (TMS), and a custom-made In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) radio service equipment referred as Wide-Band Radio (WBR). Additionally, the prototype is based on Low-Cost Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. The experimental results show that, with current hardware, attaining the Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) is achievable as long as the hardware impairments are compensated via DSP techniques.