Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

This forum has been created to foster the discussion on future and cutting edge technology. This discussion is not limited or restricted to Motorola. Examples of allowed discussion are open source hardware (GNU Radio for example) and software (Open source P25, Asterisk, ROIP, etc). Discussion is also permitted where older technology could be applied to areas where it had previously not been used (Example: Trunking on amateur radio).

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turbovectorz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:11 pm
What radios do you own?: Sabers, homebrew scanners

Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by turbovectorz »

Hi folks!

I am in the early planning stages of building an Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) like MotoTRBO following the ETSI specs.
The system will be designed using Software Defined Radio (SDR) test platforms, such as the USRP and SSRP.
The frequency band will be virtually unlimited -- I think we should just concentrate on the White Space spectrum right now which is around 47-850 MHz.

For those who does not have money to spare to purchase the SDR's, I will provide two-way radio GUI emulators running in QEMU or VMWARE. This way we can concentrate on two-way radio features instead of radio propagation issues. Development platform will be using the freely avaliable GCC tool-chain and Eclipse IDE.

Base on the specs, the modulation scheme will use C4FM. I had Sabers using C4FM over the years and they are very robust. However, let me know if anyone has a better idea for modulation such as for P25 adaptation, i.e. DPQSK, CPQSK, etc.

Right off the bat, I will design in the trunking protocols and quite a few vocoders options including frequency-domain (i.e. AMBE/IMBE-like) and time-domain (i.e. MELP, VSELP, GSM HR). Eventually, encryption modules also for much better privacy. :)

Let me know what your thoughts are!

Sincerely,

TVZ
MattSR
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 10:00 pm

Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by MattSR »

Sure, sign me up as a tester. I have a USRP and I know GNUradio well.

Whats the address for the repo? do you have any Alpha code available?
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Wowbagger
Aeroflex
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Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by Wowbagger »

Well, for a vocoder, you might check out this man's work on an improved vocoder.

For a physical layer, you may want to consider using OFDM rather than C4FM - you should be able to get a higher bit rate for the same baud rate (actually, a higher bit rate for a MUCH lower baud rate) and have a more robust transmission layer.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
turbovectorz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:11 pm
What radios do you own?: Sabers, homebrew scanners

Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by turbovectorz »

MattSR,

That's GREAT to hear that you have a USRP as well -- Do you need TVRO daughter boards? I am actually waiting for the DC-1GHz boards from Ettus Research (not sure if they are available yet). On another matter, I currently do not have any alpha code yet to release via SVN -- Hopefully, in the next few weeks. Also, I need to finish laying out the draft specs document of which I will share with you folks soon! Overall, we need all the testers we can get!

Wowbagger,

Thank you for the recommendation. I had worked with OFDM in the past (particularly COFDM for DVB-T) in remote surveillance projects operating at very long distances, and it is rather secure.
Also, do you have a link on the vocoder to consider?

You folks are AWESOME keep it coming for feedback/suggestions! :)

Sincerely,

TVZ
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wavetar
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Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by wavetar »

turbovectorz wrote: Also, do you have a link on the vocoder to consider?
It was sort of 'hidden' in the line of his post...you had to put your mouse over the text to see the hyperlink:

http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=128
No trees were harmed in the posting of this message...however an extraordinarily large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

Welcome to the /\/\achine.
turbovectorz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:11 pm
What radios do you own?: Sabers, homebrew scanners

Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by turbovectorz »

Thank you, wavetar!

Going through the SPR vocoder specs proposed in the blog, it reminds me of a Russian Company that developed a similar technique using TI DSP's:

DSP Innovations Inc. (dispini.com)
Slavi 4, Penza 440000
Russian Federation

David Rowe's work may potentially be a viable option. However, I think we will leave the codec selection as open as possible (i.e. plug-ins) because every situation can be different. In addition, this approach will make it easier for developers integrate software-based voice scramblers and/or automatic noise reduction algorithms.

Sincerely,

TVZ
MattSR
Posts: 770
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 10:00 pm

Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by MattSR »

Any updates on this? I now have an Ettus WBX transceiver to work with..

Just need some source code to start playing with now..
turbovectorz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:11 pm
What radios do you own?: Sabers, homebrew scanners

Re: Exploring Open-Source Digital Mobile Radio Project

Post by turbovectorz »

MattSR wrote:Any updates on this? I now have an Ettus WBX transceiver to work with..

Just need some source code to start playing with now..
Sorry for the delay folks, so many things surfaced unexpectedly. However, things are finally moving along.
Purchasing USRP WBX repeater boards soon to experiment with and building an alternative small SDR/DSP receiver for the mobiles.

The *half-hacked* OpenDMR simulator is working now, but no source code to release yet.
It's designed using GNU C/C++, gnuradio libs, wxpython and for SDL some really fast waveform graphs/analysis.

Another good reason, is that I also got too involved on playing with Digital Speech Decoder(DSD) lately.

Join us, its fun!


-TVZ
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