Software Defined Radio (SDR)

Software Defined Radio, or SDR, allows a single wireless device to support a wide range of capabilities previously available only through multiple products. The initial SDR focus was on the concept of a multi-purpose handset; taken to the extreme, a single SDR device could provide cellular connectivity, act as an AM/FM receiver, offer GPS position location services, connect to wireless data networks, or even function as an HDTV receiver.

SDR offers the flexibility and upgradeability necessary to satisfy these user needs by enabling simultaneous operation of multiple standards on a single hardware device. Vanu applies this technology to enable software RAN solutions that allow an operator to support multiple standards simultaneously on a single hardware platform, including shared RF equipment and backhaul transport.

What is Vanu Software Radio?

Vanu utilizes a software radio base station as the cornerstone of its software RAN solutions. Vanu, Inc.'s Anywave® base station is the first FCC-certified, commercially available SDR RAN solution, where a single reusable hardware platform can support multiple wireless services and standards simultaneously. Each wireless standard is entirely developed in high level languages that can run on high volume, high performance commercial off-the-shelf processors, allowing customers to choose the best and most cost-effective equipment for their application.

Compared to traditional hardware-oriented approaches, such as DSP and FPGA-based solutions, a true SDR base station is highly modular and enables a high degree of software portability and reuse, minimizing the amount of code that has to be re-written to keep pace with advances in the underlying technology. Building SDR systems for general-purpose platforms and a full-featured operating system enables the use of advanced technologies such as virtualization, and allows operators to take advantage of the multitude of existing solutions for management, network integration and system security.

Other approaches labeled as SDR may include significant software elements but do not provide the same engineering benefits, thus reducing the advantage to operators.

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