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Session Description

Ticketed event: $40.00
Software-defined radio (SDR) is being used by many institutions as a teaching tool to illustrate and explore concepts presented in communications systems and digital signal processing courses. The inherent flexibility of SDR, coupled with the ability to capture, visualize, and process real-world signals, provides numerous benefits in classroom and laboratory settings. Furthermore, exposure to SDR is increasingly important for students wishing to pursue careers in the telecommunications, networking, and radar fields.

This workshop will present the use of low-cost SDR hardware together with MATLAB/Simulink software for teaching communication systems and digital signal processing. The SDR hardware (“RTL-SDR” device, US$18) is capable of receiving radio frequency signals from 25MHz to 1.8GHz, which includes many interesting signals such as FM radio, digital television, GPS, and commercial aircraft ADS-B transmissions. The hardware then streams the digitized samples (3.2MSPS maximum) to a host PC over USB. The data can be displayed, recorded, and processed through a MATLAB/Simulink interface. We will describe the basic principles required for using these devices, will share example projects, and will lead workshop attendees through several hands-on exercises. Participants will leave the workshop with the RTL-SDR hardware and instructional materials that they may adopt for use in their own courses.

Speakers

1. Dr. Cory J. Prust

   Milwaukee School of Engineering

   Dr. Prust is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He teaches courses primarily in the Electrical Engineering program.

   He earned the BS degree in electrical engineering from MSOE in 2001 and the Ph.D. degree from Purdue University in 2006. At Purdue, he was a U.S. Department of Education GAANN Fellow and an NSF funded graduate research assistant. Prior to joining the MSOE faculty, he was a technical staff member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory.

   Dr. Prust is a member of IEEE (S'97, M'06) and a member of ASEE (M'09).

   His research interests include statistical signal processing, computational structural biology, adaptive array processing, and radar systems.

2. Dr. Joseph P Hoffbeck

   University of Portland

   Joseph P. Hoffbeck is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon. He has a Ph.D. from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He previously worked with digital cell phone systems at Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T Bell Labs) in Whippany, New Jersey. His technical interests include communication systems, digital signal processing, and remote sensing.

3. Mr. Todd Atkins

   MathWorks

   Todd Atkins is a member of the Educational Technical Marketing team at The MathWorks who is exploring how best to work with faculty to prepare the next generation of engineers and scientists. He has a B.S. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.