The application of DSP techniques in HF radio receiver design

A typical receiver has a two or three stage superheterodyne structure to achieve the very high degree of discrimination against out of band signals necessary to operate in what has become a very crowded part of the radio spectrum. Recent advances in digital signal processing technology now offer the possibility of implementing many of the signal processing functions digitally. This paper examines the performance requirements necessary for operation in the HF band and the manner in which these are met by purely analogue receivers. It then examines the performance requirements for a digital receiver, A-D conversion techniques and digital implementation of the traditional receiver functions of channel filtering, SSB separation, AGC and demodulation.<>