Consulting and Training
I am currently working on high efficiency RF power amplifier design as a PhD researcher at Cardiff University’s Centre for High Frequency Engineering. Due to this I am not accepting any contracts longer than a few days, or an average of half a day a week for longer contracts.
If you would like to hire me or have questions: derek@bitstovolts.com
Workshops and Training
I run workshops and direct training sessions covering Software Defined Radio, GNU Radio, Ettus Research/National Instruments USRP Radios, and the RFNoC FPGA Digital Signal Processing framework. These are conducted on-site for groups of 1-10 participants. Here is an example outline of a two day workshop.
GNU Radio
Theory
- Introduction (Project, Motivation, License)
- GNU Radio overview
- GNU Radio Companion (GRC) overview
- Third-party modules
- Project release and development model
- Key project and community resources
Practical Usage
- Installation of the GNU Radio core
- Creation of simple simulations using GRC
- Input and output functionality (File reading/writing, network streaming)
- Graphical User Interface elements and creation
- Interfacing with hardware (receiving and transmitting)
- Overview of common DSP blocks (filters, resamplers, etc)
- Basics of analog and digital modulation
- Implementing simple custom DSP using Embedded Python blocks
- Creating an Out-Of-Tree module in Python and C++
RF Network on Chip
- Ettus Research USRP hardware overview
- Universal Hardware Driver (UHD) overview
- Deep dive on the USRP X310 and UBX hardware
- Introduction to the RFNoC architecture
- Hands on demos configuring and using existing FPGA blocks
- Building custom FPGA blocks with Verilog
General Programming
At this time I am not accepting contracts for non-SDR or RF related work.