Wireless engineering teams use today’s MATLAB^® to reduce development time, from algorithm development through full system simulation and hardware implementation. These engineers save time and eliminate steps by:

• Proving algorithm concepts in simulation and over-the-air tests  
• Exploring and optimizing system behavior with models that include digital, RF, antenna elements
• Eliminating design problems before moving to implementation
• Streamlining testing and verification with MATLAB and Simulink^® test harnesses
• Automatically generating HDL or C code for prototyping and implementation
• Reusing models to speed up design iterations and next-generation projects

Teams report saving as much as 30% in overall development time and 85% in functional verification time, having fewer design re-spins, and creating defect-free FPGA and ASIC implementations on the first attempt.

Learn more about wireless communications design with MATLAB:

5G and Advanced Technology Development

To achieve extreme data rates, ultra-low latency, and massive connectivity and coverage, 5G and other next-generation wireless technologies require design approaches that span baseband communications, RF systems, and hardware design. MATLAB and Simulink enable you to quickly develop and prove the viability of new wireless technologies with:

• Algorithm libraries, reference models, and measurement tools that help you simulate, test, and analyze advanced technologies. These include modulation techniques, massive MIMO antenna designs, and mmWave transmissions.
• Flexible antenna array design tools to model phased array antenna patterns and evaluate beamforming and spatial signal processing algorithms.
• Rapid prototyping and testing of new algorithms for evaluation under realistic scenarios using commercial SDR platforms or custom FPGA hardware.

Using MATLAB and Simulink, you can optimize system performance and eliminate problems before going to hardware. Your validated models provide a golden reference for hardware prototypes, eliminating steps and delays in delivering a working proof of concept.

LTE and WLAN Simulation and Testing

MATLAB accelerates standard-compliant physical layer (PHY) development, supports golden reference verification and conformance testing, and enables test waveform generation and analysis. Because you’re working in the MATLAB environment, you can easily generate custom designs and waveforms and automate test bench creation for simulation and over-the-air testing.

Capabilities for LTE and WLAN wireless development include:

• LTE, LTE-A, and 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac simulation, signal generation, and design verification
• Live waveform transmission and reception with SDR hardware and RF instruments
• Carrier aggregation, beamforming and antenna array modeling for MIMO systems
• Signal analysis and control parameter recovery

RF System and Antenna Array Modeling

Digitally controlled RF front ends and antenna arrays are essential technologies for today’s and tomorrow’s wireless systems. With MATLAB and Simulink, you can model and simulate the RF transceiver together with baseband algorithms, analog/mixed-signal components, and antenna arrays. This allows you to rapidly explore many different scenarios to optimize performance of the complete signal chain, even if you’re not an expert RF or antenna designer. You can:

• Model and analyze RF architectures, including measured RF characteristics, which simplifies integration of the RF front end into larger systems
• Simulate RF transceivers an order of magnitude faster than circuit simulations, enabling rapid design exploration
• Develop MATLAB algorithms such as DPD or AGC to mitigate power amplifier impairments and interferers
• Simulate the impact of antennas and antenna arrays on the RF front end design
• Model and simulate digital and hybrid beamforming techniques for phased antenna arrays

Over-the-Air Testing with Software-Defined Radios and RF Instruments

MATLAB and Simulink connect to radio hardware for over-the air testing of wireless designs. You can transmit and receive live LTE, WLAN, and custom waveforms with a range of SDR hardware, signal generators, and analyzers – whether you are working at your desk, in the lab, or in the field.

Over-the-air testing with MATLAB and Simulink allows you to:

• Transmit and receive standard-compliant and custom waveforms with commercially available software-defined radio hardware or RF instruments
• Validate your designs with live radio signals
• Analyze captured signals with scopes and measurement tools in MATLAB and Simulink

Supported hardware includes:

• Avnet^® PicoZed™ SDR
• Xilinx^® Zynq^® SDR and FPGA SDR
• Ettus Research^® USRP^® (including USRP^® E310)
• RTL-SDR
• RF signal generators and analyzers from Keysight™, Rohde and Schwarz, Anritsu, Tektronix^®, and others
• ADALM-PLUTO Radio Support from Communications System Toolbox

SDR Prototyping and Implementation

Using algorithm models created with MATLAB and Simulink, you can automatically generate HDL and C code, eliminating the time-consuming and error-prone work of manual implementation. This accelerates hardware prototyping and facilitates implementation on commercial SDR platforms or any FPGA, SoC, or ASIC target.

You can export your validated algorithm IP and testbench to Cadence^®, Mentor Graphics^® and Synopsys^® HDL, and SystemVerilog simulators for full-chip functional verification.

Using MATLAB and Simulink for prototyping and implementation, you can:

• Design and simulate fixed-point and timing-accurate hardware models of algorithms
• Automatically generate target-independent or target-optimized HDL and C code
• Prototype algorithm designs on commercially available or custom SDR, SoC, and FPGA development boards
• Verify algorithm designs using FPGA-in-the-loop testing or cosimulation with Cadence, Mentor, and Synopsys HDL simulators
• Automatically generate SystemVerilog models for ASIC verification