USRP Hardware Driver and USRP Manual  Version: 003.008.004-0-g93011c14
UHD and USRP Manual
Customizing the Signal Chain in Generation 2 products

Adding DSP logic to Generation 2 products

As part of the USRP FPGA build-framework, there are several convenient places for users to insert custom DSP modules into the transmit and receive chains.

  • Before the DDC module
  • After the DDC module
  • Replace the DDC module
  • Before the DUC module
  • After the DUC module
  • Replace the DUC module
  • As an RX packet engine
  • As an TX packet engine

Customizing the top level makefile

Each USRP device has a makefile associated with it. This makefile contains all of the necessary build rules. When making a customized FPGA design, start by copying the current makefile for your device. Makefiles can be found in usrp2/top/{product}/Makefile

Edit your new makefile:

  • Set BUILD_DIR to a unique directory name
  • Set CUSTOM_SRCS for your verilog sources
  • Set CUSTOM_DEFS (see section below)

Inserting custom modules

CUSTOM_DEFS is a string of space-separate key-value pairs. Set the CUSTOM_DEFS variable so the FPGA fabric glue will substitute your custom modules into the DSP chain.

Example:

CUSTOM_DEFS = "TX_ENG0_MODULE=my_tx_engine RX_ENG0_MODULE=my_rx_engine"

Where my_tx_engine and my_rx_engine are the names of custom verilog modules.

The following module definition keys are possible (X is a DSP number):

  • TX_ENG<X>_MODULE: Set the module for the transmit chain engine.
  • RX_ENG<X>_MODULE: Set the module for the receive chain engine.
  • RX_DSP<X>_MODULE: Set the module for the transmit dsp chain.
  • TX_DSP<X>_MODULE: Set the module for the receive dsp chain.

Examples of custom modules can be found in usrp2/custom/*.v