SCA Reference Waveform Implementation: Best SDR Practices

The software defined radio (SDR) forum, an international organization dedicated to promoting the development and deployment of software radio technologies, has chosen Mercury Computer Systems to develop a reference waveform implementation compliant with the joint tactical radio system (JTRS) software communications architecture (SCA). The implementation will demonstrate best practices in SCA-compliant waveform development and serve as a reference to the industry. It will be available to the SDRF members for a period of six months, and will then be released to the industry via the Forum's website. This paper first describes the medium access layer and logical link layer extensions to the FM³TR specification that will be implemented as a part of this contract. We then present a step-by-step approach to develop an SCA-compliant waveform using best SDR design practices. The paper concludes with a summary of the lessons learned throughout the waveform development process