Spectrum Monitoring Network: Tradeoffs, Results, and Future Directions
summary
Compares four analyzer tiers — Keysight PxA N9030B (> $100k), Keysight N6841A (> $10k), Ettus B210/B200 mini (~$1k), ADALM PLUTO (< $100) — and shows calibrated SDRs can approach useful spectrum-monitoring accuracy after frequency and power calibration but need per-unit noise‑figure and 1 dB compression maps. Measurements show ~60 dB dynamic range for 12‑bit devices and ~50 dB for 8‑bit RTL‑style units; the deployed Boulder Wireless Testbed records simultaneous sensors and reveals frequent RF front‑end overdrive from strong out‑of‑band signals. Calibration can be automated and ML for impairment mitigation and propagation inference is proposed.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Start
- 2:18Radio Receiver Architectures
- 2:50Frequency Translation
- 7:21Image Frequency
- 9:51Advantages of the Super Heterodyne
- 10:49Direct Conversion Receiver
- 18:13Ip2 and Ip23 Measurements
- 19:39Spectrum Analyzes Display Signal Power versus Frequency
- 20:26Vector Signal Analyzers
- 20:38Block Diagram of a Modern Spectrum Spectrum Analyzer
- 22:30Block Diagram
- 23:26Calibrate Your Sdr
- 24:21Gain Factor Calibration
- 31:09Simultaneous Measurements
- 34:00Future Directions
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