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Pluto Receiver

Receive data from Analog Devices ADALM-PLUTO radio

Add-On Required: This feature requires the Communications Toolbox Support Package for Analog Devices ADALM-Pluto Radio add-on.

  • Pluto Receiver block

Libraries:
Communications Toolbox Support Package for ADALM-PLUTO Radio

Description

The Pluto Receiver block is a signal source that receives data from an Analog Devices® ADALM-PLUTO radio. This connection enables you to simulate and develop various software-defined radio applications.

The following diagram shows the interaction between Simulink®, the Pluto Receiver block, and the radio hardware.

For transmitting a radio signal over the air, pass the signal generated in Simulink to an PlutoSDR transmitter block. The transmitter block forwards the signal to the radio hardware. For receiving a radio signal over the air, use an PlutoSDR receiver block. The receiver block forwards the signal received from the radio hardware for post processing in Simulink.

If the host is not connected to radio hardware, you can still use this block to develop a model that propagates sample time and data type information. To propagate this information, update your diagram.

Channel Output

The ADALM-PLUTO radio has a single channel for receiving data and sending it to the Pluto Receiver block. The block outputs a column vector signal of fixed length. The first call to the block might contain transient values, which can result in packets containing undefined data.

Design Custom Filter

If the gain or bandwidth characteristics of the default filter does not satisfy the requirements for your application, use the ADI filter wizard to design a custom filter that meets your specific requirements.

By using the ADI filter wizard, you can change the default filter design applied to the filter chain in the Pluto Receiver block. To open the filter wizard, on the Advanced tab of the block, click Design custom filter. The wizard enables you to design a custom filter for the Analog Devices AD9361/AD9364 RF chip based on the Baseband sample rate (Hz) parameter. You can adjust and optimize the settings for calculating the analog filters, the interpolation and decimation filters, and the FIR coefficients. When you finish with the wizard, to apply the filter settings, click Apply on the block.

The ADI filter wizard requires the following MathWorks® products:

  • MATLAB®

  • Signal Processing Toolbox™

  • DSP System Toolbox™

For instructions on operating the ADI filter wizard, visit the Analog Devices website at MATLAB Filter Design Wizard for AD9361.

For more information, see Baseband Sampling Rate and Filter Chains.

Ports

Input

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RF center frequency setting in Hz, specified as a scalar from 70.0e6 to 6.0e9.

Note

Analog Devices qualifies the PLUTO radio over a tuning range of 325 MHz to 3.8 GHz. This support package enables you to use the PLUTO radio outside the qualified tuning range by configuring the radio to operate using the AD9364 firmware. To extend the frequency range, at the MATLAB command prompt, enter configurePlutoRadio('AD9364').

Example: 88.9e6 tunes the receiver to a center frequency of 88.9 MHz.

Dependencies

To enable this port, on the Main tab, set Source of center frequency to Input Port.

Data Types: double

Radio receiver gain in dB, specified as a scalar from -4 to 71.

Note

The acceptable minimum and maximum gain setting depends on the center frequency. An incompatible gain and center frequency combination returns an error.

Example: 10 sets the receiver gain level to 10 dB.

Dependencies

To enable this port, on the Main tab, set Source of gain to Input Port.

Data Types: double

Output

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Received data, returned as a vector of complex values. The value range depends on the data type of the output.

  • int16 — Output data consists of 16-bit signed integer values in the range [–2048, 2047]. The AD936X RF chip has a 12-bit ADC. The 12-bit data from the ADC is stored in the lower 12 bits of the output value and sign-extended to 16 bits.

  • double — Output data consists of double-precision floating point values scaled to the range of [–1, 1].

  • single — Output data consists of single-precision floating point values scaled to the range of [–1, 1].

Note

The AD936X RF chip has a 12-bit ADC. Double-precision and single-precision floating point representations of received data values are directly created from the sign-extended int16 value received from the board. These representations occupy only the range [–1, 1].

To specify the data type of the received data, use the Output data type parameter.

Data Types: int16 | single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Lost samples indicator, returned as a logical.

  • A 0 indicates that no samples were lost.

  • A 1 indicates that samples were lost.

Parameters

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Main Tab

Radio Connection

Radio identifier of the radio hardware, specified as one of the following character vectors:

  • (recommended) A device-independent index, with the prefix usb:, such as 'usb:0', 'usb:1', 'usb:2', …, indicating the first, second, third, ..., attached ADALM-PLUTO radio, respectively

  • An IP address, with the prefix ip:, such as 'ip:192.168.3.2'

  • A serial number, represented by a hexadecimal string with the prefix sn:, such as'sn:100000235523730700230031090216eaeb'

When running multiple radios on the same host, the host assigns each radio a different radio ID. When identifying the radio by USB ID, the first radio is assigned usb:0, and the ID number increments by one for subsequent radios. For example,the following configurations show IDs assigned to two radios connected on the same host computer for a pair of Pluto Receiver and Pluto Transmitter blocks.

Set the radio ID for each connected radios.

When operating on Windows® keep these considerations in mind.

  • When running multiple radios on the same host in separate MATLAB sessions, for each MATLAB session the first radio is assigned usb:0, and the ID number increments by one for subsequent radios.

  • Radios that are being used by one MATLAB are not seen by other MATLAB sessions. Use findPlutoRadio and check the reported serial number to identify the radios seen in a particular MATLAB session.

For more information, see Setup for Two Radios Connecting to One Host.

Click Info to open a window that communicates with the attached radio hardware to obtain basic radio hardware information.

Note

  • The actual computed value and your specified setting can have a small mismatch. To confirm that the actual computed value is close enough to your specified setting, click Info on the block. This button synchronizes the block with the radio hardware.

  • When the Frequency correction (ppm) setting is 0, the factory-calibrated setting of the radio will be used.

  • The Frequency correction (ppm) parameter changes the actual radio setting for Baseband sample rate (Hz) and Center frequency (Hz).

Radio Properties

Source of center frequency, specified one of the following:

Dialog

Specify the center frequency in the Center frequency (Hz) parameter.

Input Port

Specify the center frequency in Hz by using an input that is added to the Pluto Receiver block.

RF center frequency setting in Hz, specified as a scalar from 70.0e6 to 6.0e9.

Note

Analog Devices qualifies the PLUTO radio over a tuning range of 325 MHz to 3.8 GHz. This support package enables you to use the PLUTO radio outside the qualified tuning range by configuring the radio to operate using the AD9364 firmware. To extend the frequency range, at the MATLAB command prompt, enter configurePlutoRadio('AD9364').

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Source of center frequency to Dialog.

Source of gain, specified as one of the following:

AGC Slow Attack

Use this mode with signals whose power varies slowly over time.

AGC Fast Attack

Use this mode with signals with a rapidly changing power level.

Dialog

Specify the gain in the Gain (dB) parameter.

Input Port

Specify the gain in dB by using an input that is added to the Pluto Receiver block.

Radio receiver gain in dB, specified as a scalar from -4 to 71.

Note

The acceptable minimum and maximum gain setting depends on the center frequency. An incompatible gain and center frequency combination returns an error.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Source of gain to Dialog.

This parameter is read-only.

Channel mapping is always set to 1.

Baseband sampling rate in Hz, specified as a scalar from 65105 to 61.44e6.

Note

The actual computed value and your specified setting can have a small mismatch. To confirm that the actual computed value is close enough to your specified setting, click Info on the block. This button synchronizes the block with the radio hardware.

Data

Output signal data type, specified as one of the following:

  • int16 — 16-bit signed integer

  • double — Double-precision floating point

  • single — Single-precision floating point

Number of samples per frame, specified as an even positive integer from 2 to 16,777,216. Using values less than 3660 can yield poor performance. When streaming to the host, using larger frame sizes can give more efficient performance. To determine real-time operation of the object, use the overflow output port.

Select Enable output port for overflow indicator to add the overflow output port to the block.

When you select this parameter, the Pluto Receiver block produces a set of contiguous frames. This setting can help simulate models that cannot run in real time. When you enable burst mode, specify the amount of contiguous data by using the Frames in burst parameter. For more information on how to use this parameter, see Burst Mode.

Number of frames in a contiguous burst, specified as a strictly positive integer.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, select Enable burst mode.

Data Types: double

Filter Tab

When you select this parameter, the filter chain uses a custom filter design instead of the default. If Pluto Receiver block does not have a custom filter design applied yet, click on Launch filter wizard to design and apply a new filter.

Note

When applying a custom filter to Pluto Receiver block using the ADI filter wizard, Use custom filter is automatically selected. To switch between the default and your custom filter design, on the Filter tab of the block mask, clear or select Use custom filter, respectively.

For more information, see Baseband Sampling Rate and Filter Chains.

Advanced Tab

Advanced Radio Properties

Quadrature correction is enabled by default. For more information, see Quadrature Tracking.

RF DC correction is enabled by default. For more information, see DC Offset Tracking.

Baseband DC correction is enabled by default. For more information, see DC Offset Tracking.

Frequency correction in parts per million, specified as a scalar from -200 to 200.

Note

  • When the Frequency correction (ppm) setting is 0, the factory-calibrated setting of the radio will be used.

  • The Frequency correction (ppm) parameter changes the actual radio setting for Baseband sample rate (Hz) and Center frequency (Hz).

Dependencies

This parameter changes the actual radio setting for Baseband sample rate (Hz) and Center frequency (Hz).

Built-in Self-test Configuration

Select built-in self-test loopback mode, specified as one of these options:

  • Disabled — Disable BIST loopback.

  • Digital Tx -> Digital Rx — Enable digital signals to loop back within the AD936x device. The signals bypass the RF stage.

  • RF Rx -> RF Tx — Enable incoming receiver RF signals to loop back to the RF transmitter port. The signals bypass the FPGA.

Select BIST signal injection mode, specified as one of the following values:

  • Disabled — Disable BIST signal injection.

  • Tone Inject Tx — Enable BIST signal injection to transmit path.

  • Tone Inject Rx — Enable BIST signal injection to receive path.

When you enable BIST signal injection, you can set the source of BIST signal generation with the Signal generator mode parameter.

Select source of BIST signal generation, specified as one of these options:

  • PRBS — Use the pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) generator of the board.

  • Tone — Use the tone generator of the board. To set the tone frequency and tone level, use the Tone frequency (Hz) and Tone level (dB) parameters, respectively.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Test signal injection to Tone Inject Tx or Tone Inject Rx.

Select BIST tone frequency, specified as Fs/32, Fs/16, Fs*3/32, or Fs/8.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Signal generator mode to Tone.

Select BIST tone level, specified as 0, -6, -12, or -18 .

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Signal generator mode to Tone.

Version History

Introduced in R2017a