Radar Code on Open Radar Code Architecture

Compatible hardware

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Selecting a Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

ORCA is built upon the USRP Hardware Driver (UHD). As such, it is theoretically compatible with any Ettus SDR. We have primarily tested with B and X series devices (B205mini and X310, in particular), however most other Ettus SDRs should work with minor tweaks.

The basic capabilities of the two models we regularly use are detailed below:

SDR	Frequency Range (GHz)	Bandwidth (MHz)	Channels	Mass (kg)	Approximate Cost (USD)
X310 with UBX160	0.01-6	200	2 TX, 2 RX	1.7	$14,0000
B205mini-i	0.07-6	56	1 TX, 1 RX	0.024	$1,600

In general, we recommend B series devices for applications with constraints on size, weight, power, or budget. When capabilities beyond the B series are needed, we recommend the X series.

Code overview

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Conda environment setup

All of the required dependencies can be installed as a conda environment using the environment.yaml file in the repository. More instructions can be found in the README file.

Startup scripts

The X series devices require some initial network configuration. For convenience, a startup script is provided to automate this setup. You may need to tweak this file to your setup.

Runner scripts

The basic steps required to run the radar are:

Configuration options

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The entire configuration that controls the radar is defined in a single configuration file. This file is provided at runtime to run.py and encapsulates all of the settings needed to run various experiments on different hardware setups. Configuration files are specified in the YAML format and contained in the config/ folder of the ORCA repository. Default configuration files are included to run the code on a B205mini-i (default_b205.yaml1) and on an X310 (default_x310.yaml). Here we explain the basics behind the settings available to the user via the config file.

Host computer transport parameter tuning

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The maximum duty cycle you can achieve is a function of the SDR you use, the host computer, and the bandwidth you need. This page outlines suggestions for how to figure out an achievable duty cycle and what parameters can be tweaked to maximize this.

General process for benchmarking duty cycle

Determine the maximum achievable bandwidth with benchmark_rate

Use the USRP example benchmark_rate program (located at <path to conda install>/envs/<uhd environment name>/lib/uhd/examples) to determine the approximate maximum duty cycle you can achieve. For instance, with a Pi 4 and b205mini, I can reach about a 25% duty cycle – defined as sample rate divided by desired sample rate (14 Msps / 56 Msps in this case) – while consistently getting 0 dropped packets.