Software defined radio for smart utility networks

In this paper, we describe a software defined radio (SDR) platform that can be used to implement the IEEE 802.15.4g standard for low data rate wireless smart utility networks (SUN). The SUN standard supports multiple wireless band plans, defines multiple physical (PHY) layers: FSK, OFDM and O-QPSK, each supporting a large number of data rates. Because of the flexibility allowed in the standards, an SDR approach provides the greatest flexibility in implementing the standard. We propose to use the SDR platform based on Texas Instruments C28x 32-bit MCU platform and a sub-1GHz CC1260 low power integrated radio. This platform can may be used for both the smart e-meter as well as the data concentrator. We begin the paper by providing an overview of the different PHY layers and enumerating the common elements across all PHYs for both the transmitter and receiver. Next, we discuss a partitioning between software and hardware that provides the flexibility without sacrificing efficiency. Finally, we provide the details of a hardware accelerator incorporated into the C28x architecture (VCU II) that can simplify many of the complex tasks associated with these PHYs.