ANALOG & DIGITAL

COMMUNICATION
(EL-323)

LABORATORY MANUAL

USRP as AM Demodulator
( LAB # 09)
Student Name: ______________________________________________
Roll No: ________________ Section: ____
Date performed: _____________, 2016
MARKS AWARDED: _______

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF COMPUTER AND EMERGING SCIENCES, CHINIOTFAISALABAD

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

9. USRP as AM Demodulator
This laboratory exercise has two objectives. The first is to gain a firsthand experience in actually
programming the USRP to act as a receiver. The second is to investigate classical analog amplitude
modulation and the envelope detector.

9.1

Background
9.1.1 Receiver

LabVIEW interacts with the USRP receiver by means of six functions located on the block diagram.
Figure 1 shows the basic receiver structure.

Figure 1:Receiver Template

Open Rx Session initiates the receiver session and generates a session handle and an error cluster
that are propagated through all six functions. You must add a control called device names that
you will use to inform LabVIEW of the IP address or resource name of the USRP.
Configure Signal has the same function as the corresponding function in the transmitter. Attach
four controls and three indicators to this function as shown in the figure. This time, set the IQ rate
to 1 MSa/s, the carrier frequency to 915.0 MHz, the gain to 0 dB, and the active antenna to RX1.
When the function runs, the USRP will return the actual values of these parameters.
Initiate sends the parameter values you selected to the receiver and starts it running.
Fetch Rx Data retrieves the message samples received by the USRP. Placing this function in a
while loop allows message samples to be retrieved one block at a time until the stop button is
pressed. Note that the while loop is programmed to terminate if an error is detected. A number of
2

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

samples control allows you to set the number of samples that will be retrieved with each pass
through the while loop. In later lab projects in this series, we will not use the while loop, and will
fetch only a single block of data from the receiver. Fetch Rx Data can provide message samples to
the user as either an array of complex numbers or as a complex waveform data type. A pull-down
tab allows you to choose the data type for the message samples.
Abort stops the acquisition of data once the while loop ends.
Close Session terminates receiver operation. As noted above, use the STOP button to terminate
execution so that Close Session will be sure to run.

9.2

Lab Procedure
9.2.1 USRP As AM Receiver
A template for the receiver has been provided in the Figure.2. This template contains the
six interface functions described in the Background section above along with a waveform
graph on which to display your demodulated output signal.

Figure 2

Pass the complex array returned by Fetch Rx Data through a bandpass filter. Filters can be
found in the ExternalFiles folder in the Files Pane. Use a fifth-order Chebyshev Filter (CDB)
with a high cutoff frequency of 105 kHz and a low cutoff frequency of 95 kHz. The default
passband ripple of 0.1 dB is acceptable. The sampling frequency input to the filter should
be the actual IQ rate obtained from the Configure Signal function.

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

Using the Complex to Re/Im function, extract the real part of the Chebyshev bandpass output
Filtered X. To extract the envelope, take the absolute value and pass the result through a
lowpass filter. This acts as a full-wave rectifier. Then, to extract the message, pass the signal
through the lowpass filter. For the lowpass filter, use a second-order Butterworth Filter
(DBL) with a cutoff frequency of 5 kHz. As was the case for the bandpass filter, the
sampling frequency input to the lowpass filter should be the actual IQ rate obtained from
the Configure Signal. The output of your lowpass filter should be connected to the Baseband
Output graph.

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

Experiment #8: USRP as AM Demodulator

Name & Surname_________________________________________________
Date _____________________________

Group ____________________________

1. Connect a loopback cable and attenuator between the TX 1 and RX 2 connectors. Connect
the USRP to your computer and plug in the power to the USRP. Run LabVIEW and open
the transmitter and receiver functions that you created in lab 8 and lab 9.
Give Snapshot of block diagram of tansmitter and receiver VIs.
2. Ensure that the transmitter is set up to use
Carrier Frequency: 915.1 MHz
IQ Rate: 200 kHz
Gain: 0 dB
Active Antenna: TX1
Message Length: 200,000 samples gives a good block of data to work with.
Modulation Index: Start with 1.0.
Keep the highest frequency of message below 5 kHz.
Give Snapshot of front panel of tansmitter VI.
3. Ensure that the receiver is set up to use
Carrier Frequency: 915 MHz
IQ Rate: 1 MHz
Gain: Not critical. 0 dB
Active Antenna: RX2
Number of Samples: Same value as the transmitted message length.
Give Snapshot of front panel of receiver VI.
4. Power Spectrum
Drag the FFT Power Spectrum for 1 Chan (CDB) to your receiver block diagram. To provide
input to this power spectrum function, use the Cluster Properties function on the block
diagram. Connect the Y input of Cluster Properties function to the output of your
receivers bandpass filter. Connect the dt input of Cluster Properties function to the dt
obtained from the top left Cluster Properties function. Then connect the cluster out output
of Cluster Properties function to the time signal input of FFT Power Spectrum. Only one
other input of the power spectrum function needs to be connected: Wire a Boolean constant
set to True to the dB On input. Now connect the Power Spectrum/PSD output of your
power spectrum function to a waveform graph. On the waveform graph, make the graph

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

palette visible so that you can use the zoom feature, and change the label on the horizontal
axis to Frequency.
Take a screen shot of your power spectrum graph.

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

In submitting this lab write-up to the Lab Engineer/Instructor, I hereby declare that:
I have performed all the practical work myself
I have noted down actual measurements in this writeup from my own working
I have written un-plagarised answers to various questions
I have/have not obtained the desired objectives of the lab. Reasons of not obtaining objectoves
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________
Students signature and Date
Student Evaluation by the Lab Engineer:
The Lab Engineer can separate this page from the writeup and keep it for his/her own record. It
must be signed by the student with date on it.
Lab Work: objectives achieved (correctness of measurements, calculations, answers to
questions posed, conclusion) ________/30
Lab Writeup: Neatness, appropriateness, intime submission ________/10
Troubleshooting: Were the student able to troubleshoot his/her work when it was purposedly
changed?
________/10
TOTAL:

________/50

Feedback on student behaviour:

Encircle your choice. -2 means poorest/worst/extremely inadequate/irrevlevant, 0 gives an
average score, and +2 means best/most relevant/most adequate.
Did the student join the lab at the start/remained in lab?

-2 -1 0 1 2

Did the student remain focused on his/her work during lab?

-2 -1 0 1 2

Rate student's behaviour with fellows/staff/Lab Engineer?

-2 -1 0 1 2

Did the student cause any distraction during the Lab?

-2 -1 0 1 2

Was the student found in any sort of plagiarism?

Additional comments(if any) by the Lab Engineer:

-2 -1 0 1 2
___________________________
Lab Engineers signature and Date

Lab #

Analog & Digital

National University
Roll No: __________
Communication
of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Chiniot-Faisalabad
(EL223)
Fall 2016
_________________________________________________________________________________

09

Student's feedback:[Separate this page; fill it; drop in the Drop Box.]
Providing feedback for every lab session is optional. No feedback means you are satisified
The Lab Committee will consider only duly filled forms submitted within one week after the
lab
This feedabck is for LAB session: LAB Number: _____, Date: _____________________
General (to provide feedback on a persistent practice/ocurrence in LABs).
Your current CGPA is in the range 4.00 to 3.00/2.99 to 2.00/1.99 to 1.00/0.99 to 0.00
This feedback is: For a Particular
Who conducted the LAB?
__________________________________________________
Actual Start time: _______________ Total Duration of Lab: _______________________
Instruction Duration: _________________ Practical Duration: _____________________
LAB writeup available before LAB?Yes/No with the Photocopier/in LAB/in SLATE
Had the theory related to lab been covered in theory class?Yes/No
Encircle your choice. -2 means poorest/worst/extremely inadequate/irrevlevant, 0 gives an average
score, and +2 means best/most relevant/most adequate.
Instruction Session
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Lab Engineer
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