BEST Gr-Bertool Slides

University of Messina - DIECII
The gr-bertool
Supervisors Candidate Prof. Salvatore Serrano Prof. Giuseppe Campobello Arturo Rinaldi
Department of Electronics Engineering, Chemistry and Electrical Engineering BEST School - Messina, September 2013
Goal of the thesis work

The making of a learning tool for the analysis of the digital modulations
in dierent communication channels
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The simulated channels were :


The simulated channels were : Wired : AWGN


The simulated channels were : Wired : AWGN Wireless : Rayleigh and Rician


The simulated channels were : Wired : AWGN Wireless : Rayleigh and Rician Verify the correspondence between the theoretical and experimental
results of the BER (Bit Error Rate)



Provide complementary tools to show how audio and video les are
modied under the eect of the transmission channels



Provide complementary tools to show how audio and video les are
modied under the eect of the transmission channels

The gr-bertool was built by using the open-source DSP platform GNU
Radio
GNU Radio
GNU Radio is an open-source software
toolkit providing a huge library of blocks for Digital Signal Processing (DSP) written in C++ which can be combined together in order to build and develop radio applications
Gnu Radio Companion (GRC), XML Python Flow Graph (Created using the processing blocks) SWIG (Port C++ blocks to Python) GNU Radio Signal Processing Blocks (C++)
USB Interface / Gigabit Ethernet Generic RF Front End ( USRP / USRP 2 )
GNU Radio
GNU Radio is an open-source software
toolkit providing a huge library of blocks for Digital Signal Processing (DSP) written in C++ which can be combined together in order to build and develop radio applications
It is provided with a graphical interface
Gnu Radio Companion (GRC), XML Python Flow Graph (Created using the processing blocks) SWIG (Port C++ blocks to Python) GNU Radio Signal Processing Blocks (C++)
to ease its learning curve (GRC : GNU Radio Companion)
USB Interface / Gigabit Ethernet Generic RF Front End ( USRP / USRP 2 )
Software-Dened Radio : an introduction

GNU Radio was developed to be in use of Software-Dened Radio
(SDR), a new paradigm of communication systems


A receiver is an SDR device if its communication functions are made as
recongurable software working on ad hoc hardware



So its possible to implement dierent software transmission standards
by using only one device



So its possible to implement dierent software transmission standards
by using only one device

An SDR sytem is also able to recognize and avoid possible interferences
with other transmission channels
A general overview on the main GNU Radio blocks
Signal Source
The block generates dierent kind of waveforms to be used as the main signal to transmit or as a reference one. The block is only not able to generate Sinusoidal or Costant kind of waveforms but also Square, Triangle and Saw Tooth ones. Type : complex, oat, int, short
Noise Source
The block is able to generate noise according to the Uniform, Gaussian, Laplacian and Impulse models. Please also note that the Amplitude parameter fed to the Gaussian kind of noise is the standard deviation of the Gaussian Noise, given by : = N0 2
where N0 /2 is the power spectral density of white noise (i.e. its variance). Type : complex, oat, int, short
Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool
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Operators
These blocks perform the four basic arithmetical functions over the signal sources they are fed with (sum, subtraction, multiplication and division). Please also note that they perform the operation element by element (i.e. rst element of the row rst element of the column) so the rule of thumb is to feed the inputs with equal amounts of data. Type : complex, oat, int, short
Random Source 2
The block generates a random array of unsigned integer data with values spanning from 0 to 255 (we are working with 1-byte elements !). We use it because is a more reliable source of random data compared to the one provided with the GNU Radio platform. The only parameter fed to the block is the number of samples (i.e. the length of the generated list of elements). Type : complex, oat, byte
Random Source 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 from g n u r a d i o i m p o r t g r i m p o r t random d e f OnDataSource random ( s a m p l e s ) : src1 = [ ] f o r i in range ( samples ) : d a t a = random . r a n d i n t ( 0 , 2 5 5 ) s r c 1 . append ( d a t a ) return src1 c l a s s randomsource b ( gr . h i e r b l o c k 2 ) : def init ( s e l f , number samples ) : gr . h i e r b l o c k 2 . init ( s e l f , randomsource b , gr . i o s i g n a t u r e (0 , 0 , 0) , gr . i o s i g n a t u r e (1 , 1 , gr . s i z e o f c h a r ) ) d a t a s a m p l e s = OnDataSource random ( n u m b e r s a m p l e s ) s e l f . v e c t o r = g r . v e c t o r s o u r c e b ( d a t a s a m p l e s , True , 1 ) s e l f . connect ( s e l f . vector , s e l f )
Random Source - The easy way

The block generates a random array of unsigned integer data. It is a more direct implementation compared to the one we have just seen. We feed it with the data list (of unsigned integer of course) and we also set to Yes the repeat option since we need a constant stream of data. Lets see how to build the data array this time....
Random Source - The easy way

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 from g n u r a d i o i m p o r t g r i m p o r t numpy d a t a = map ( i n t , numpy . random . r a n d i n t ( 0 , 2 5 6 , 6 e5 ) ) v e c t o r = g r . v e c t o r s o u r c e b ( d at a , True , 1 )
Packed to Unpacked
The block returns sequences of packed bytes according to the integer number we set to the Bits per Chunk argument. It is possible to set the Endianness of the output sequences according to Big (MSB) or Little (LSB)a . So lets assume we have this binary sequence 11100001. If we feed it to the block well get four binary sequences, specically :

00000011 00000010 00000000 00000001
Type : int, short, byte

a Johathan Swift, Gullivers Travels 13 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool
Map
We usually exploit this block every time we want to perform Gray Coding on the symbols of a digital modulation. For a 2-bit symbols modulation :

Binary to Gray sequence : [0,1,3,2] Gray to Binary sequence : [0,1,3,2]
For a 3-bit symbols modulation :

Binary to Gray sequence : [0,1,3,2,7,6,4,5] Gray to Binary sequence : [0,1,3,2,6,7,5,4]
Type : byte
Constellation Decoder - 1
It could be seem strange feeding the same coding numeric sequence when un-gray a constellation. However, this is due to how GNU Radio works and in particular how the Constellation Decoder block operates over the signal points. So, once you have assigned the correct Symbol Value Out (i.e. for a QPSK constellation is [0,1,2,3]), you have to scramble the Symbol Position values again to perform a correct decoding. You can take care of this by using a cascading link to the Map block again and feeding it with the originary coding sequence.
Constellation Decoder - 2
Please also note that all our work is based on the old version of the gr constellation decoder block. In fact, the version we have just dealt with is the one taken from the GNU Radio 3.4.2 tarball and built again as a custom block with the cmake custom wrapper you can usually nd inside a tarball1 . This however is nowadays considered an old-school method since the latest tarballs provide the Swiss-army knife tool called gr-modtool, which will generate the skeleton of your new custom package.
1 This is true for tarball version ranging from 3.5.0 to 3.6.5.1
Chunks to Symbols
Once we have set the coding on our binary sequences (the ones from the Packed to Unpacked block) we can assign the points of the constellation to them. So for example, if we want to build a BPSK constellation we will assign the points [-1,1] to the Symbols Table. Otherwise if we want to build a QPSK constellation we will assign these other points : [1+1j,-1+1j,-1-1j,1-1j] Input type : int, short, byte Output type : complex, oat
Throttle
We usually use this block to limit the cpu load when operating with non-audio or non-usrp sources/sinks. This means that our system wont freeze or be overloaded by the GNU Radio engine. If by any chance we forget it to put it in our ow graph, we will be warned about it runtime. Type : complex, oat, int, short, byte
WX GUI Slider
Its a simple slider making part of the GNU Radio GUIs. We can use to vary at runtime the value of certain variable we have previously set. We will mostly use this slider to set the Eb /N0 value in our simulations. We are also able to set the Default Value (it is usually a oat one), and the number of steps between the Maximum and Minimum value of the variable itself.
WX GUI Scope Sink

The WX GUI Scope Sink is a simple graphical sink to show our generated waveforms or digital constellations as well. At runtime, you will notice that is provided with buttons to set the X and Y axis divisions and their oset as well. Be sure to set XY Mode to On when working with digital constellations or any complex stream of data to show both the orthogonal components in the correct way. Type : complex, oat
Unpacked to Packed
Basically, this block exactly works in the reverse way of the Packed to Unpacked block we saw a couple of slides ago. Remembering the four binary sequences, which were splitted from the original one :

00000011 00000010 00000000 00000001
they will be reverted to the original transmitted binary sequence 11100001. Type : int, short, byte
Import
The Import block allows us to import the installed python libraries or even some custom code residing in your PYTHONPATH(s). Some common examples of imports into the block are : Import: numpy
Import: Import:
scipy <my-code>
and so on.
WX GUI Number Sink

The WX GUI Number Sink is a simple graphical sink to display the result of a numeric calculation of a GNU Radio ow graph. We also might feed it,for example, with a constant source (depending on a variable) to have a numeric reference to compare with a real-time result. You can also set the number of the decimal digits so to get more accuracy in the displayed result. Type : complex, oat
BER and SER calculation

These ones are the blocks for the BER and SER calculation of the digital modulation. We usually feed their inputs with the reference and the decoded stream of data. Please note that we have only to specify the number of Bits per Symbol only in the BER block. It is also recommended to set number of samples of Window Size to 600k or 1M (and of the input data streams as well) to get an accurate measure of the error rates. Input type : byte Output Type : oat
Now lets build a QPSK constellation together ! ! !
Click on the GRC icon in your menu bar
or just type from your local shell :
$ gnuradio-companion &
map(int, numpy.random.randint(0, 256, 6e5)) 1+1j, -1+1j, -1-1j, 1-1j

Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool 27 of 66
The developed tool : gr-bertool

The tool main GUI

BER experimental verication

Real-Time BER experimental verication

Complementary tools
The BER Calculation

The Bit Error Rate (BER) of a digital modulation, is the number of bit
errors divided by the total number of transferred bits during a studied time interval

Lets verify the BER theoretical values with the experimental ones by
varying the signal-to-noise ratio Eb /N0

Lets verify the BER theoretical values with the experimental ones by
varying the signal-to-noise ratio Eb /N0

From digital communications theory is well known that for a Q-PSK
modulation the Bit Error Rate is given by : Pb = Q 2Eb N0

This set of tools calculates the BER in
a range of Eb /N0 values given by min and max with the opportunity to choose the increase step size

We can enable or disable the Gray
Coding

We can enable or disable the Gray
Coding
By clicking on the Plot button the BER
curves are showed in a simple BER vs Eb /N0 diagram

We can see a perfect agreement between the theoretical results and the experimental ones :
(a) BER AWGN BPSK
(b) BER AWGN Q-PSK
(c) BER AWGN 8-PSK
Lets try it together ! ! !
The Real-Time BER Calculation
Real-Time BER and signal constellation evolution

This tool allow us to show the real-time
BER and signal constellation evolution in the three dierent types of examinated transmission channels

In the following example well show the
BER evolution in the Rician Channel in the range of Eb /N0 values going from 15 dB to 0 dB

Once started the BER value settles to
the BER value corresponding to Eb /N0 = 0 dB about equal to 0.11


Ch1 Experimental Value ; Ch2
Theoretical Value


Ch1 Experimental Value ; Ch2
Theoretical Value
Lets see the evolution....
Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool 39 of 66
Real-Time BER evolution
The signal constellation

Lets consider a generic transmission scheme for a TLC system.
m(t) S Tx s(t) Tx Channel r (t) Rx d(t) D
Figure : Generic block diagram for a TLC system

Lets consider a generic transmission scheme for a TLC system.
m(t) S Tx s(t) Tx Channel r (t) Rx d(t) D
Figure : Generic block diagram for a TLC system In the absence fo any noise in the channel the generci transmitted
symbol s i will be correctly received. The plot of the received symbols is knows as Constellation of the digital modulation.
s 3 (01) s 0 (11)
s 2 (00)
s 1 (10)
Figure : Constellation of a QPSK modulation


The presence of noise in the channel modies phase and amplitude of
the transmitted symbols and so the received symbol r i is not one belonging to the constellation showed before
s 3 (01) r i s 0 (11) The transmitted s i symbol is not correctly received
s 2 (00)
s 1 (10)
Evolution of the Signal Constellation
Real-Time BER Evolution
Image Transmission
Image Transmission
This tool allow us to observe how the
most common image formats are aected by digital modulations
Image Transmission

We studied the eects over the
simulated channels (AWGN, Rayleigh e Rician) for a xed value of Eb /N0 = 0 dB and Q-PSK digital modulation for a Jpeg image
Image Transmission

simulated channels (AWGN, Rayleigh e Rician) for a xed value of Eb /N0 = 0 dB and Q-PSK digital modulation for a Jpeg image
Lets see the results......
Image Transmission : AWGN Channel
(a) Original
(b) AWGN
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Image Transmission : Rician Channel
(c) Original
(d) Rician
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Image Transmission : Rayleigh Channel
(e) Original
(f) Rayleigh
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Image Transmission
Audio Transmission
most common audio formats are aected by digital modulations
Audio Transmission

simulated channels (AWGN, Rayleigh e Rician) for a xed value of Eb /N0 = 10 dB and Q-PSK digital modulation
Audio Transmission

simulated channels (AWGN, Rayleigh e Rician) for a xed value of Eb /N0 = 10 dB and Q-PSK digital modulation
We took as sample the wav le
play it sam.wav with the following specications :
Audio Transmission
Specications of the sample le
play_it_sam.wav : File Size: 1.76M Bit Rate: 1.41M Encoding: Signed PCM Channels: 2 @ 16-bit Samplerate: 44100Hz Replaygain: off Duration: 00:00:10.00
Lets see the results....
Audio Transmission
(g) Original
(h) AWGN Channel
Audio Transmission
(i) Rician
(j) Rayleigh
Conclusions
Conclusions
Why using gr-bertool ? Advantages
Its an helpful tool for the teacher to use in TLC courses
Conclusions
Its an helpful tool for the teacher to use in TLC courses The student can nd a quick verication with the learnt notions during classes
Conclusions
Its an helpful tool for the teacher to use in TLC courses The student can nd a quick verication with the learnt notions during classes It has an user-friendly GUI
Conclusions
Its an helpful tool for the teacher to use in TLC courses The student can nd a quick verication with the learnt notions during classes It has an user-friendly GUI Its open-source !
Contact Information
Arturo Rinaldi Freelance Collaborator @ DIECII Address : Dep. of Electronics Engineering (DIECII) C.da di Dio, 98166 Messina (Italy) E-mail : arty.net2@gmail.com Fixed : +39-090-3977376 ; Mobile : +39-340-5795584 (Whatsapp) Skype : arty.net ; Facebook : arty.net Twitter : artynet2 ; LinkedIn : Arturo Rinaldi Prof. Giuseppe Campobello, Ph.D. Researcher in Telecommmunications Address : Dep. of Electronics Engineering (DIECII) C.da di Dio, 98166 Messina (Italy) - Room: 636 (block B, 6th oor) E-mail : gcampobello@unime.it Fixed : +39-090-3977378 Prof. Salvatore Serrano, Ph.D. Researcher in Telecommmunications Address : Dep. of Electronics Engineering (DIECII) C.da di Dio, 98166 Messina (Italy) E-mail : sserrano@unime.it Fixed : +39-090-3977522

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University of Messina - DIECII

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

results of the BER (Bit Error Rate)

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

results of the BER (Bit Error Rate)

modied under the eect of the transmission channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Goal of the thesis work

in dierent communication channels

results of the BER (Bit Error Rate)

modied under the eect of the transmission channels

2 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

USB Interface / Gigabit Ethernet Generic RF Front End ( USRP / USRP 2 )

3 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

to ease its learning curve (GRC : GNU Radio Companion)

USB Interface / Gigabit Ethernet Generic RF Front End ( USRP / USRP 2 )

3 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Software-Dened Radio : an introduction

(SDR), a new paradigm of communication systems

4 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Software-Dened Radio : an introduction

(SDR), a new paradigm of communication systems

recongurable software working on ad hoc hardware

4 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Software-Dened Radio : an introduction

(SDR), a new paradigm of communication systems

recongurable software working on ad hoc hardware

by using only one device

4 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Software-Dened Radio : an introduction

(SDR), a new paradigm of communication systems

recongurable software working on ad hoc hardware

by using only one device

with other transmission channels

4 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

A general overview on the main GNU Radio blocks

5 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

6 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

8 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

10 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Random Source - The easy way

11 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Random Source - The easy way

12 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

Type : int, short, byte

For a 3-bit symbols modulation :

14 of 66 Arturo Rinaldi - The gr-bertool

1 This is true for tarball version ranging from 3.5.0 to 3.6.5.1