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back to article Microsoft open-sources Sora software-defined radio

Microsoft has decided to open-source its six-year-old Sora software radio project. As Redmond's Jane Ma explained at Technet, Sora has been designed to replicate the behaviour of specialised ASICs on a PC. Its focus is on the PHY and MAC layers. ASIC design is expensive and inflexible, so software platforms are attractive to …

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  2. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    I want a kilowatt output, 8-bit register only allows 255 watts. Help.

    There are almost as many techno-ignorant lies swirling around Software Defined Radios as there are around 3D Printing.

    To be clear, the IF chain is a great place for software. Trying to move the software closer to the antenna socket is a noble goal, just don't believe it.

    If someone slides a $10 SDR stick across the table to refute the above, take your shoe off and smash it open and show him the hardware down converter tuner chip between the antenna socket and the A/D.

    If someone claims that an SDR is obsolescence-proof, just punch them. Their hardware life is about five to ten years, much worse than old school radios that lasted 20. I know of one SDR that's on its sixth generation of hardware redesign, averaging about three years per.

    5 2 Reply
    1. Gideon 1
      Reply Icon

      Re: I want a kilowatt output, 8-bit register only allows 255 watts. Help.

      You missed the point, which is cheaper hardware. A good example is Realtek ethernet MACs, which are as cheap and simple as they could make them, offloading most of the functionality to the driver software. The phy will be next, because it typically has a dedicated mask programmed DSP, but as CPUs get DSP like instruction sets the signal processing can be done there instead. The same cost reduction could be applied to computer radio interfaces too.

      1 0 Reply
      1. JeffyPoooh
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: I want a kilowatt output, 8-bit register only allows 255 watts. Help.

        Gideon 1: "You missed the point [of SDR], which is cheaper hardware."

        Total cost is hardware plus software.

        You need to review the history of the USA DoD JTRS program. JTRS, a software defined radio program which promised great savings and efficiencies, did for inexpensive radio communications exactly what the reusable Space Shuttle did for inexpensive space travel.

        JTRS burned up a billion dollars, pissed off everyone, before being cancelled in disgrace.

        In case you haven't noticed by now, hardware is cheap and rapidly trending to free. At the same time, software is expensive and getting worse.

        Oh! Did you write it to the applicable DO-178 revision and certification level? Somebody might really need the radio to work. No? Oops, there goes a megabuck or three, and two years...

        SW needs endless updates, which is vastly more cost and effort than the coder wienies may believe Hardware can, on occasion (just often enough to prove that this is true), be designed perfectly first time. Rev NC for life. It happens. Never with SW.

        It's all counterintuitive, but still sadly true.

        Software in the IF chain might be worth it, but go into it with your eyes wide open if it's for any serious application.

        0 0 Reply
  3. Mage Silver badge

    old school radios that lasted 20

    I have some working 86 year old radio sets.

    How long will Windows 8 last?

    The $10 SDR stick has abysmal dynamic range and performance.

    If this is Open Source is it going to be ported to other OS?

    5 4 Reply
    1. Vic
      Reply Icon

      Re: old school radios that lasted 20

      If this is Open Source is it going to be ported to other OS?

      It could be - it's BSD-licenced, so there's nothing stopping anyone who wants to do the job.

      I wouldn't get too worked up just yet, though - there does seem to be quite a bit of FPGA work for something that sees itself as SDR; that's good for low-volume experimental stuff, but FPGAs generally cost too much for volume work.

      Vic.

      0 0 Reply
      1. JeffyPoooh
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: old school radios that lasted 20

        "...quite a bit of FPGA work for something that sees itself as SDR..."

        Newer waveforms require vastly more processing power. Many an SDR project has had to drop in some programmable hardware such as a gate array of some sort. Often at the last minute, but adding a huge delay to the so-called "SD" radio.

        Most SDRs can be reprogrammed sideways to a different waveform of the same era, but the future waveforms tend to be more than the CPU or DSP can handle.

        The flexibility is more sideways than forward.

        0 0 Reply
    2. 1Rafayal
      Reply Icon

      Re: old school radios that lasted 20

      I think the lifespan of Windows 8 isnt something to get worried about - the point of the article is that there is now another open source SDR project.

      If it has success, then maybe it will support future OS' as well as the current ones.

      0 0 Reply
  4. The last doughnut

    Strangely the press release doesn't mention WiMax?

    0 0 Reply
  5. Vic

    It makes use of multi-core processor features like SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) and caching

    Errr - you do know that SIMD and caching have nothing to do with multi-core processing, right?

    Vic.

    0 0 Reply
  6. M. Poolman

    Quick question

    How does this offering differ from the gnuradio sdr software in terms of capabilities offered to the end user? Is it essentially the same or something different altogether?

    I'm thinking of getting into sdr so I'm quite interested to know. Please don't reply if you simply want to start yet another utterly boring and pointless MS v Linux trollfest.

    3 0 Reply
    1. JeffyPoooh
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Re: Quick question

      "I'm thinking of getting into SDR..."

      Go on eBay with $10 and buy one of the SDR USB sticks. They're great fun. They're the perfect starting point.

      Then add the $100 HF band up-converter.

      This combo will keep you busy for several years. Seriously.

      Then you can branch out and head up market.

      0 0 Reply
  7. Dagg Silver badge

    Problem with Barn door front end

    The big problem with SDR is the extremely wide barn door front end. Try to pick up a low level signal 10-15 kHz from a massive broadcast signal. Not a chance, the large broadcast signal just swamps the front end.

    0 0 Reply
    1. JeffyPoooh
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Re: Problem with Barn door front end

      Need more bits. Some professional kit can digitize **the entire HF band** for later enjoyment. They use enough bit depth that the dynamic range is more than adequate. Brochure doesn't mention if they have amplitude flatteners to avoid overflow.

      PS. Thank you for correctly capitalizing "kHz". This beer is for you. Cheers.

      0 0 Reply
  8. Bob H

    BladeRF

    Would be nice if Sora supported the BladeRF, given the presence of the Zinq FPGA that should help.

    It would make it much more affordable.

    0 0 Reply

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