********************************************************************* INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE
You are cordially invited to the 2018 New England Workshop on Software Defined Radio (NEWSDR 2018), which is the eighth installment of an annual series of symposium and workshop events organized by the Boston SDR User Group (SDR-Boston).
This year, NEWSDR will be held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and consists of a day-long symposium on Friday, as well as several hands-on short courses the evening before on Thursday. You are welcome to attend either or both events, which are entirely free.
Attendance is typically about 100 people, and attendees come from both academia and industry.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Atwater Kent Laboratories Building 125 Salisbury Street Worcester, MA 01609
AGENDA
16:00 to 17:00 Pizza/Soda and Attendee Networking
17:00 to 18:00 Early Session for Setup
18:00 to 21:00 Workshop Events
Two workshops are being offered:
* "Real Time Over-the-Air Communications Links with MATLAB/Simulink" by MathWorks
* "FPGA Programming on the USRP with the RFNoC Framework" by Ettus Research
MathWorks and Ettus Research will each run a short course during the evening before the main event. Short courses are technical, practical, hands-on activities in a group setting. Specific topics and further details about the short courses will be announced shortly. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required. Free pizza and soda will be provided.
-------------------- Title: FPGA Programming on the USRP using the RFNoC Framework
Abstract: Ettus Research's RFNoC (RF Network-on-Chip) software framework is designed to decrease the development time for experienced FPGA engineers seeking to integrate IP into the USRP FPGA signal processing chain. RFNoC is the framework for USRP devices that use Xilinx 7-series FPGAs (E310, E312, X300, X310). RFNoC is built around a packetized network infrastructure in the FPGA that handles the transport of control and sample data between the host CPU and the radio. Users target their custom algorithms to the FPGA in the form of Computation Engines (CE), which are processing blocks that attach to this network. CEs act as independent nodes on the network that can receive and transmit data to any other node (e.g., another CE, the radio block, or the host CPU). Users can create modular, FPGA-accelerated SDR applications by chaining CEs into a flow graph. RFNoC is supported in UHD and GNU Radio. In this workshop, we will present an interactive hands-on tutorial on RFNoC, including a discussion on its design and capabilities, demonstrations of several existing examples, and a walk-through on implementing a user-defined CE and integrating the CE into GNU Radio.
Prerequisites: Attendees do not need to bring any USRP radios or laptop computers. All necessary hardware and software will be provided in the workshop.
Attendees should have some previous experience with Linux and using the Linux command line, and basic familiarity with a programming language such as C, C++, or Python, and have basic understanding of fundamental concepts in DSP and RF. Attendees should also have some basic familiarity with Verilog. Extensive or deep experience with these topics is not necessary.
-------------------- Title: Real Time Over-the-Air Communications Links with MATLAB/Simulink
Abstract: In this talk we show how you can transmit and receive over-the-air signals with MATLAB and a variety of hardware, such as RTL-SDR, ADALM-PLUTO (PlutoSDR), and USRP. We will work with applications like broadcast FM, ADS-B (aircraft tracking), and QPSK. We show how you can build up your own wireless communications link, learning practical receiver design in the process. After the talk, we will conduct a workshop for up to 50 attendees to download the RTL-SDR driver on your personal laptops. We will give you an RTL-SDR radio to keep, walk you through the install process, and launch several applications to ensure proper installation. To participate in this workshop, you must have MATLAB R2017b or later loaded on your laptop, and you must also have Communications System Toolbox loaded in your MATLAB install. If need be, you can install the required products through the Home Version or the Student Version. A Communications System Toolbox install must include DSP System Toolbox, Signal Processing Toolbox, and MATLAB. Simulink is optional.
09:45 to 10:15 Poster Presenter Elevator Pitches / Oral Presentations (2 minutes each)
10:15 to 11:00 Coffee, Attendee Networking, Poster Sessions, Sponsor Exhibits/Demos
11:00 to 11:45 Invited Presentation: "Remote Sensing of the Space Environment Using Software Defined Radio" Dr Frank Lind, MIT Haystack Observatory
11:45 to 12:45 Lunch, Attendee Networking, Poster Sessions, Sponsor Exhibits/Demos
12:45 to 13:30 Invited Presentation: "Multi-objective SDR Optimization for Wireless Access, Actuation and Attacks" Professor Kaushik Chowdhury, Northeastern University
13:30 to 14:15 Sponsor Technical Presentation: OctoScope
14:15 to 14:45 Coffee, Attendee Networking, Poster Sessions, Sponsor Exhibits/Demos
14:45 to 15:30 Invited Presentation: "Reinventing Wireless with Deep Learning" Mr Nathan West, DeepSig
15:30 to 16:15 Sponsor Technical Presentation: Analog Devices
16:15 to 17:00 Sponsor Technical Presentation: Mediatek
17:00 to 17:15 Closing Remarks
Invited Speakers: * Mr Nathan West, DeepSig * Prof Kaushik Chowdhury, Northeastern University * Dr Frank Lind, MIT Haystack Observatory
Technical Poster Presentations: * Covering the recent work in SDR and cognitive radio technology * Poster presentations are now being solicited * See link at the bottom of this email to submit your abstract
Corporate Sponsors: * Ettus Research * MathWorks * OctoScope * Mediatek * Analog Devices
The symposium features plenary speakers, technical poster presentation sessions, hardware and software demonstrations from the event sponsors, and workshops from the event sponsors, all focusing on recent work in SDR and cognitive radio technology. Free breakfast, lunch, and coffee will be provided. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required.
The symposium provides an excellent networking opportunity and a terrific venue to exchange thoughts and ideas with other people working in the SDR space.