Satellite Waveform Generator

Create, impair, visualize, and export satellite communications waveforms

Since R2023b

Description

The Satellite Waveform Generator app enables you to create, impair, visualize, and export satellite communications waveforms.

The app provides these capabilities by using the Wireless Waveform Generator app configured for satellite waveform generation. Using the app, you can:

• Generate Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2), Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation extended (DVB-S2X), and Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation Return Channel over Satellite (DVB-RCS2) waveforms.

• Export these waveforms to your workspace or to a .mat or .bb file.

• Export waveform generation code and parameters to a runnable MATLAB^® script or a Simulink^® block.

  • Use the exported script to generate your waveform, without the app, from the command line.

  • Use the exported block as a waveform source in a Simulink model. For more information, see the Waveform From Wireless Waveform Generator App block.

• Visualize the waveforms in the spectrum analyzer, constellation diagram, and time scope.

• Distort the waveforms by adding radio frequency (RF) impairments, such as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), phase offset, frequency offset, DC offset, in-phase and quadrature (IQ) imbalance, and memoryless cubic nonlinearity.

• You can transmit the generated waveforms by using a connected radio or lab test instrument.

  • To transmit a waveform by using a software defined radio (SDR), connect one of the supported SDRs (ADALM-Pluto, USRP™, USRP embedded series, or Xilinx^® Zynq-based radios) to a computer with the associated add-on installed. For more information, see Transmit Using SDR.

  • To transmit a waveform by using a lab signal generator, use Instrument Control Toolbox and connect a supported signal generator to your computer. For more information, see Transmit Using Lab Signal Generator Instrument.

  • To transmit your waveforms over the air at the maximum baseband sample rate supported by the radio device, use Wireless Testbench™ and connect a supported radio to your computer. For a list of radios that support full device rates, see Supported Radio Devices (Wireless Testbench). This feature requires Wireless Testbench. For an example, see Transmit App-Generated Wireless Waveform Using Radio Transmitters.

To create, impair, visualize, and export waveforms other than satellite communications waveforms, you must reconfigure the app. For a full list of features, see the Wireless Waveform Generator app.

For more information about the Wireless Waveform Generator app, see the Create Waveforms Using Wireless Waveform Generator App topic.

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Open the Satellite Waveform Generator App

MATLAB Toolstrip: On the Apps tab, under Signal Processing and Communications, click the app icon.

MATLAB Command Prompt: Enter wirelessWaveformGenerator. This command opens the Wireless Waveform Generator app. To configure the app for satellite communications waveform generation, in the Waveform Type section of the app toolstrip, under Satellite, select one of the available waveforms.

Examples

App-Based Satellite Communications Waveform Generation

Generate standards-based DVB-S2, DVB-S2X, and DVB-RCS2 waveforms by using the Satellite Waveform Generator app. You can also export and transfer waveforms using the app.

Open Satellite Waveform Generator App

On the Apps tab of the MATLAB toolstrip, under Signal Processing and Communications, select the Satellite Waveform Generator app icon. This app opens the Wireless Waveform Generator app configured for satellite communications waveform generation.

Select Waveform

In the Waveform Type section on the app toolstrip, select the waveform you want to generate from one of these options.

• DVB-S2

• DVB-S2X

• DVB-RCS2

Generate Waveform

Depending on the selected waveform, the app presents specific tabs where you can set the parameters of the selected waveform. On the app toolstrip, in the Generation section, you can add impairments and set visualization tools applicable for the selected waveform. To visualize the waveform on the selected visualization tools, click Generate.

For example, this figure shows the visualization results of a DVB-S2 waveform using default parameters.

Export Generated Waveform

You can export the generated waveform and its parameters by clicking Export. You can export the waveform as one of these options.

• A MATLAB script with the .m extension, which you can run to generate the waveform without the app

• A file with a .bb or .mat extension

• Your MATLAB workspace, as a structure

• A Simulink block, which you can use to generate the waveform in a Simulink model without the app

Transmit Generated Waveform

To transmit the generated waveform using a connected radio or lab test instrument, on the app toolstrip, click on the Transmitter tab.

• To transmit a waveform by using an SDR, connect one of the supported SDRs (ADALM-Pluto, USRP, USRP embedded series, and Xilinx Zynq-based radios) to your computer with the associated add-on installed. For more information, see Transmit Using SDR.

• To transmit a waveform by using a signal generator, use Instrument Control Toolbox and connect a supported signal generator to your computer.

• To transmit your waveform over the air at the maximum baseband sample rate supported by the radio device, use Wireless Testbench™ and connect a supported radio to your computer. For a list of radios that support full device rates, see Supported Radio Devices (Wireless Testbench). This feature requires Wireless Testbench.

Transmit App-Generated Wireless Waveform Using Radio Transmitters

This example shows how to use the NI™ USRP™ N310, USRP N320, USRP N321, USRP X310, and USRP X410 radio transmitters available in the Wireless Waveform Generator app to transmit an app-generated waveform over the air (requires Wireless Testbench™). These radio transmitters enable you to transmit up to 2 GB of contiguous data over the air at the maximum baseband sample rate supported by the radio device.

Introduction

The Wireless Waveform Generator app is an interactive tool for creating, impairing, visualizing, and transmitting waveforms. Using a radio transmitter available in the app, you can transmit your generated waveform repeatedly over the air. You can also export the waveform generation and transmission parameters to a runnable MATLAB® script. This example shows how to configure these radio transmitters.

Although this example shows how to transmit an OFDM waveform, the same process applies for all waveform types that you can generate with the app.

Set Up for Radio Transmission

To use the radio transmitters in the app, you need to Install Support Package for NI USRP Radios (Wireless Testbench) and set up your radio using the Radio Setup (Wireless Testbench) wizard.

Generate Waveform for Transmission

Open the Wireless Waveform Generator app by clicking the app icon on the Apps tab, under Signal Processing and Communications. Alternatively, enter wirelessWaveformGenerator at the MATLAB command prompt.

In the Waveform Type section, select an OFDM waveform by clicking OFDM. In the leftmost pane of the app, adjust any configuration parameters for the selected waveform. Then generate the configuration by clicking Generate in the app toolstrip.

Configure Radio Transmitter

Select the Transmitter tab from the app toolstrip. In the transmitter gallery, select a radio transmitter.

In the leftmost pane of the app, select the name of a radio setup configuration that you saved using the Radio Setup (Wireless Testbench) wizard.

Set the center frequency, gain, and antennas configuration parameters. The app automatically sets the waveform sample rate based on the waveform that you generated earlier. The radio transmitter uses onboard data buffering to ensure contiguous data transmission at up to the maximum baseband sample rate supported by the radio device. To achieve the specified sample rate, the radio uses a Farrow rate converter. If necessary, use this list as a reference when setting the sample rate:

• USRP N310 -- 120,945 Hz to 76.8 MHz, or one of: 122.88 MHz, 125 MHz, or 153.6 MHz

• USRP N320 -- 196,851 Hz to 125 MHz, or one of: 200 MHz, 245.76 MHz or 250 MHz

• USRP N321 -- 196,851 Hz to 125 MHz, or one of: 200 MHz, 245.76 MHz or 250 MHz

• USRP X310 -- 181,418 Hz to 100 MHz, or one of: 184.32 MHz or 200 MHz

• USRP X410 -- 241,890 Hz to 125 MHz, or one of: 245.76 MHz or 250 MHz

Transmit Waveform

To transmit the waveform continuously, click Transmit. To end the continuous transmission, click Stop transmission. To export the waveform generation and transmission parameters to a runnable MATLAB script, click Export MATLAB script.

Limitations

In MATLAB Online™, the Satellite Waveform Generator does not support signal transmission with SDR devices or test instruments.

References

[1] ETSI Standard EN 302 307-1 V1.4.1(2014-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second Generation Framing Structure, Channel Coding and Modulation Systems for Broadcasting, Interactive Services, News Gathering and other Broadband Satellite Applications (DVB-S2).

[2] ETSI Standard EN 302 307-2 V1.1.1(2015-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second Generation Framing Structure, Channel Coding and Modulation Systems for Broadcasting, Interactive Services, News Gathering and other Broadband Satellite Applications; Part 2: DVB-S2 Extensions (DVB-S2X).

[3] ETSI Standard EN 301 545-2 V1.2.1(2014-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second Generation Interactive Satellite Systems (DVB-RCS2).

[4] ETSI Standard EN 301 545-2 V1.3.1(2020-07). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second Generation Interactive Satellite Systems (DVB-RCS2); Part 2: Lower Layers for Satellite standard.

Version History

Introduced in R2023b