SCA Reference Waveform Implementation: Best SDR Practices

The software defined radio (SDR) forum, an international organization dedicated to promoting the development and deployment of software radio technologies, has chosen Mercury Computer Systems to develop a reference waveform implementation compliant with the joint tactical radio system (JTRS) software communications architecture (SCA). The implementation will demonstrate best practices in SCA-compliant waveform development and serve as a reference to the industry. It will be available to the SDRF members for a period of six months, and will then be released to the industry via the Forum´s website. This paper first describes the medium access layer and logical link layer extensions to the FM³TR specification that will be implemented as a part of this contract. We then present a step-by-step approach to develop an SCA-compliant waveform using best SDR design practices. The paper concludes with a summary of the lessons learned throughout the waveform development process