Project

General

Profile

LimeSDR Family » History » Version 49

roh, 10/01/2019 03:41 PM

1 1 laforge
{{>toc}}
2
3 30 pespin
h1. LimeSDR USB
4 1 laforge
5 4 laforge
The "LimeSDR":https://myriadrf.org/projects/limesdr/ is a low-cost SDR board featuring the Lime Microsystems LMS7002 RF chip.
6
7 20 laforge
!{width:700px}LimeSDR_transp_3.jpg!
8
9 4 laforge
Key characteristics include:
10
* RF Transceiver: Lime Microsystems LMS7002M MIMO FPRF
11
* FPGA: Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE40F23 – also compatible with EP4CE30F23
12 6 ahuemer
* Memory: 256 MBytes DDR2 SDRAM
13 4 laforge
* USB 3.0 controller: Cypress USB 3.0 CYUSB3014-BZXC
14
* Oscillator: Rakon RPT7050A @ 30.72MHz
15
* Continuous frequency range: 100 kHz – 3.8 GHz
16
* Bandwidth: 61.44 MHz
17
* RF connection: 10 U.FL connectors (6 RX, 4 TX)
18
* Power Output (CW): up to 10 dBm
19
* Multiplexing: 2×2 MIMO
20
* Power: micro USB connector or optional external power supply
21
* Status indicators: programmable LEDs
22
* Dimensions: 100 mm x 60 mm
23 1 laforge
24 3 laforge
h2. RF Output Power
25
26 39 roh
* +11dB in gsm900 (arfcn 5)
27
* +3dB in dcs1800 (arfcn 871)
28
29 42 roh
in dcs1800 a reduction in rx power improves phase noise (e.g. max_power_red 7). the resulting rf output will be around -6dB, but will meet phase noise requirements (<5°rms).
30 39 roh
31
there is a graph from myriad showing the power vs frequency plot in this thread: https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-s-maximum-transmitting-power-at-different-frequencies/1649
32 1 laforge
33
h2. Clock
34
35
The on-board clock is a 250ppb VCTCXO.  GSM strictly requires 30ppb, but 250ppb _should_  be sufficient for laboratory use.
36
37
h3. Using external clock reference
38
39 41 roh
using "clock-ref external" the clock-ref input can be fed with a 10MHz clock from e.g. a gpsdo.
40
the signal slope is not really important since there is a full pll which can handle sine as well as rectangle signals.
41
42
the internal clock reference should be fine for short testing in the lab(<30min) but is not stable enough for longterm use.
43 1 laforge
44 19 pespin
h1. LimeSDR Mini
45
46
The "LimeSDR Mini":https://myriadrf.org/projects/limesdr/ is a smaller, less expensive version of the original LimeSDR.
47
48 22 laforge
!{width:600px}limesdr-mini-1024x561.jpg!
49
50 19 pespin
Key characteristics include:
51
* RF Transceiver: Lime Microsystems LMS7002M FPRF
52
* FPGA: Altera MAX 10 (10M16SAU169C8G)
53
* EEPROM memory: 2 x 128 KB for RF transciever MCU firmware and data
54
* Flash memory: 1 x 4 MB flash memory for data
55
* USB 3.0 controller: FTDI FT601
56
* Rakon 30.72 MHz VCTCXO
57
* Continuous frequency range: 10 MHz – 3.5 GHz
58
* Bandwidth: 30.72 MHz
59
* RF Connection: 2 x SMA connectors (each can be switched between high and low frequency bands) + 1x U.FL REF CLK
60
* Power Output (CW): up to 10 dBm
61
* Dimensions: 69 mm x 31.4 mm
62
63
h2. RF Output Power
64
65 40 roh
* +3dB in gsm900 (arfcn 5)
66 1 laforge
* -12dB in dcs1800 (arfcn 871)
67
68
h2. Clock
69
70 44 roh
the internal clock is ok, but not stable enough (longterm) to run a gsm network. for short term lab use it should be ok. (few minutes).
71
72
h3. Using external clock reference
73
74 1 laforge
providing an external clock is tricky:
75
according to the spec from the clockchip used (ti LMK00105) the input signal needs to have "sharp rectangles 2V/ns or better".
76
this is a limitation of the LimeSDR mini due to no extra pll chip being present, in contrast to the LimeSDR-USB.
77 44 roh
78
h2. Notes
79
80
due to some yet unknown issue with the usb bridge chip used on limesdr mini, some machines have issues getting a reliable usb connection and loose an extreme amount of packages.
81
since the extra bandwith of usb3 is not necessary for normal use of osmo-trx-lms, a simple fix is to force the device down to usb2.
82
this can be done easily by selecting a port which does not have a usb3 socket or use a usb2 only cable/extension to connect the device.
83 37 roh
84 45 roh
the board also gets quite warm and can make good use of an extra fan and/or some heatsinks.
85 49 roh
it also takes 800-1000mA of current from the usb socket, so using a 'Y cable' to feed it can help with stability issues.
86 45 roh
87 35 roh
h1. LimeNet Micro
88 21 laforge
89 35 roh
!{width:700px}640px-LimeSDR-Micro_v2.1_board.png!
90 21 laforge
91 36 roh
LimeNet Micro is a small all-in-one board combining the sdr, a gpsdo and some rf filters with a raspberry pi compute module3.
92
Due to the integrated gpsdo it should have no problems running tdma networks like gsm.
93
94 47 roh
there are different board variants of which some provide internal diplexers, poe pd, wifi module, hdmi and audio sockets.
95
our tests happened with a poe enabled variant without wifi, no diplexers.
96
97 36 roh
setup: install default raspbian (see getting started link below) and osmocom latest or nightly feeds.
98
config: use LNAL or LNAH for rx-path, BAND1 for tx
99
100
h2. RF Output Power
101
102
* +7dB in gsm900 (arfcn 5)
103
* -5dB in dcs1800 (arfcn 871)
104
105
h2. Clock
106
107
do not select a specific clock on LimeNet Micro. (remove clock-ref line)
108
when this type of hardware is detected osmo-trx defaults to the gps synchronized clock from the fpga (gpsdo).
109
see led4/led5 for gps status https://wiki.myriadrf.org/LimeNET-Micro_v2.1_hardware_description#Indication_LEDs
110
111 46 roh
the external reference clock input socket is currently not supported.
112
113 36 roh
h2. further information
114
115
https://wiki.myriadrf.org/LimeNET_Micro
116
https://wiki.myriadrf.org/Getting_Started_with_the_LimeNET-Micro
117
https://wiki.myriadrf.org/LimeNET-Micro_v2.1_hardware_description
118 1 laforge
119 35 roh
h1. LimeSDR PCIe
120 21 laforge
121 35 roh
!{width:700px}limesdr-pcie-1-1_jpg_project-body.jpg!
122
123
TBD
124 34 roh
125 48 roh
currently not supported
126
127 19 pespin
h1. OsmoTRX on LimeSDR
128 1 laforge
129 32 pespin
In terms of OsmoTRX for LimeSDR, we now have @osmo-trx-lms@ which avoids the previously complex driver stack with UHD, SoapyUHD, SoapySDR, etc. All you need in terms of specific dependencies is:
130
* "LimeSuite":https://github.com/myriadrf/LimeSuite.git containing the actual drivers and utilities for LimeSDR (*version 17.09 or later required*, last release @18.06.0@ or @master@ really advised)
131
** for LimeSDR-mini, you will need 17.10 or later (last release @18.06.0@ or @master@ really advised)
132 1 laforge
133 32 pespin
If your distro doesn't ship with a LimeSuite new enough, it is advised that you install LimeSuite from osmocom repositories, see [[cellular-infrastructure:MacroBinaryPackages]].
134
135
136 1 laforge
{{graphviz_link()
137 5 laforge
digraph G{
138
  rankdir = LR;
139 29 laforge
  LimeSDR -> LimeSuite [label = "USB/libusb"];
140 5 laforge
  LimeSuite -> OsmoTRX [label = "osmo-trx-lms"];
141
}
142 1 laforge
}}
143
144
h3. Verifying the driver stack
145
146
You can ensure that LimeSuite recognizes your device using the *LimeUtil* part of LimeSuite:
147
148
<pre>
149 18 pespin
$ LimeUtil --find
150
  * [LimeSDR-USB, media=USB 3.0, module=STREAM, addr=1d50:6108, serial=0009060B00xxyyzz]
151
</pre>
152 27 laforge
153 31 pespin
h3. Running osmo-trx-lms with LimeSDR
154
155 33 pespin
If @rt-prio@ is set in .cfg file, running as root may be required.
156 31 pespin
157
A sample cfg file to run @osmo-trx-lms@ with a LimeSDR device can be found in @osmo-trx.git@ in @doc/examples/osmo-trx-lms/osmo-trx-limesdr.cfg@.
158
159
<pre>
160
osmo-trx-lms -C osmo-trx.git/doc/examples/osmo-trx-lms/osmo-trx-limesdr.cfg
161
</pre>
162
163 27 laforge
h2. Other LimeSDR related information
164
165
{{child_pages()}}
Add picture from clipboard (Maximum size: 48.8 MB)