sdrangel/plugins/samplesource/limesdrinput

LimeSDR input plugin

Introduction

This input sample source plugin gets its samples from a LimeSDR device. LimeSDR support in SDRangel is for Linux only and experimental.

⚠ LimeSuite library itself is unstable or made unstable in this plugin due to lack of documentation. This plugin is provided as a minimal support and further development is suspended until proper support for LimeSDR is available.

LimeSDR is a 2x2 MIMO device so it has two receiving channels that can run concurrently. To activate the second channel when the first is already active just open a new source tab in the main window (Devices -> Add source device) and select the same LimeSDR device.

Build

The plugin will be built only if LimeSuite is installed in your system. To build and install LimeSuite from source do:

• sudo apt-get install libsqlite3-dev
• git clone https://github.com/myriadrf/LimeSuite.git
• cd LimeSuite
• mkdir builddir
• cd builddir
• cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/install/LimeSuite
• make -j8
• make install

Then add the following defines on cmake command line:

-DLIMESUITE_INCLUDE_DIR=/opt/install/LimeSuite/include -DLIMESUITE_LIBRARY=/opt/install/LimeSuite/lib/libLimeSuite.so

Installation from binary packages

Packages are provided in the releases section for AMD64 architecture only in the form of .deb files. Support for LimeSDR has to be installed as a prerequisite to installing SDRangel from the .deb package.

The following packages are provided with SDRangel binary distribution:

• liblimesuite17.02-1_17.02.1-1_amd64.deb
• liblimesuite-dev_17.02.1-1_amd64.deb
• limesuite-udev_17.02.1-1_amd64.deb (if you want the udev rules)

Alternatively you can install a full LimeSuite from PPA following these instructions.

Interface

1: Common stream parameters

1.1: Frequency

This is the center frequency of reception in kHz.

1.2: Start/Stop

Device start / stop button.

• Blue triangle icon: device is ready and can be started
• Green square icon: device is running and can be stopped
• Magenta (or pink) square icon: an error occured. In the case the device was accidentally disconnected you may click on the icon to stop, plug back in, check the source on the sampling devices control panel and start again.

1.3: Record

Record baseband I/Q stream toggle button

1.4: Stream sample rate

Baseband I/Q sample rate in kS/s. This is the device sample rate (4) divided by the decimation factor (6).

2: Channel number

LimeSDR is a 2x2 MIMO device so it has two receiving channels. This shows the corresponding Rx channel index (0 or 1).

3: NCO toggle

The button is lit when NCO is active and dark when inactive.

Use this button to activate/deactivate the TSP NCO. The LMS7002M chip has an independent NCO in each Rx channel that can span the bandwidth received by the ADC. This effectively allows non zero digital IF.

4: Zero (reset) NCO frequency

USe this push button to reset the NCO frequency to 0 and thus center on the main passband of the ADC.

5: Center frequency with NCO engaged

This is the center frequency of the mix of LO and NCO combined and is the source passband center frequency when the NCO is engaged. Use the thumbwheels to adjust frequency as done with the LO (1.1). The boundaries are dynamically calculated from the LO center frequency and sample rate.

6-7: Auto correction options

These buttons control the local DSP auto correction options:

• DC: (6) auto remove DC component
• IQ: (7) auto make I/Q balance

8: LMS7002M hardware decimation factor

The TSP block in the LMS7002M hardware has a decimation chain that acts on both Rx channels. It is composed of 5 halfband decimation stages and therefore can achieve decimation between 1 (no decimation) and 32 in increasing powers of 2: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.

Thus the actual sample rate of the ADC is the stream sample rate (10) multiplied by this factor.

9: Software decimation factor

The I/Q stream from the LimeSDR is doensampled by a power of two by software inside the plugin before being sent to the passband. Possible values are increasing powers of two: 1 (no decimation), 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.

10: Device stream sample rate

This is the LMS7002M device to/from host stream sample rate in S/s.

Use the wheels to adjust the sample rate. Left click on a digit sets the cursor position at this digit. Right click on a digit sets all digits on the right to zero. This effectively floors value at the digit position.

The LMS7002M uses the same clock for both the ADCs and DACs therefore this sample rate affects all of the 2x2 MIMO channels.

11: Rx hardware filter bandwidth

This is the Rx hardware filter bandwidth in kHz in the LMS7002M device for the given channel. Boundaries are updated automatically but generally are from 1.4 to 130 MHz in 1 kHz steps. Use the wheels to adjust the value.

12: TSP FIR filter toggle

The TSP in the LMS7002M chip has a FIR filter chain per channel. Use this button to activate or deactivate the TSP FIR filter.

13: TSP FIR filter bandwidth

USe the wheels to adjust the bandwidth of the hardware TSP FIR filter.

14: Gain

Use this slider to adjust the global gain of the LNA, TIA and PGA. LimeSuite software automatically set optimals values of the amplifiers to achive this global gain. This gain can be set between 0 and 70 dB in 1 dB steps. The value in dB appears at the right of the slider.

15: Antenna select

Use this combo box to select the antenna input:

• No: None
• Lo: Selects the low frequency input (700 to 900 MHz nominally)
• Hi: Selects the high frequncy input (2 to 2.6 GHz)
• Wo: Selects the wideband input
• T1: Selects loopback from TX #1 (experimental)
• T1: Selects loopback from TX #2 (experimental)

16: Stream status indicator

This label turns green when status can be obtained from the current stream. Usually this means that the stream is up and running but not necessarily streaming data. The various status elements appear next on the same line (17, 18, 19)

17: Stream warning indicators

• U: turns red if stream experiences underruns
• O: turns red if stream experiences overruns
• P: turns red if stream experiences packet drop outs

18: Stream global (all Rx) throughput in MB/s

This is the stream throughput in MB/s and is usually about 3 times the sample rate for a single stream and 6 times for a dual Rx stream. This is due to the fact that 12 bits samples are used and although they are represented as 16 bit values only 12 bita travel on the USB link.

19: FIFO status

This is the fill percentage of the Rx FIFO in the LimeSuite interface. It should be zero most of the time.