Application of foresight's technology to implement a waveform development environment

Abstract

To achieve interconnection of disparate waveforms and radio architectures, a mechanism must be available to efficiently develop and test waveforms, to prototype new software definable radio (SDR,) architectures, and to download waveforms in the field. At present, such SDR applications are developed using disparate traditional SW and HW tools that do not support a HW/SW co-design process for a total system synthesis. Foresight Systems, Inc. has developed several tools that address a methodology for this waveform development environment, how to model functions and architectures for the environment, mapping functions to architectures, simulation and performance calculations, and automatic code generation for systems in an integrated development environment (IDE). In the SDR field, waveform and control domain libraries must exist as well as architecture libraries with a rich variety of multi-processor models, operating systems (OS), protocols, and I/O drivers. Such libraries are necessary in order for the designer to perform HW/SW co-design and system trade-offs to construct various instantiations of communication waveforms dynamically downloadable to a software mobile radio. The application of Foresight Systems' technology to the development of a waveform development environment for software definable radios is currently under active discussion between Foresight Systems and commercial firms.