Field Expedient SDR: Basic Digital Communications (black and white version)
Note: There are two versions of this book, one with full-color illustrations, the other with interior images in black and white. This is the black and white edition.
Software Defined Radios are revolutionizing wireless communications, but getting started can be a challenge. Much of the available SDR training veers either towards highly mathematical engineering classes or radio cookbooks with little explanation for the steps taken.
Basic Digital Communications steers between these two extremes by leveraging knowledge you already have but didn't know was applicable to radio technology. Through a series of hands-on exercises, you'll learn:
- the key components of digital transmissions like preambles, payloads and error checking
- how to build transmitters using OOK and FSK
- how to build more advanced radios with PSK and QPSK
- the best techniques for viewing digitally modulated signals
- how to model noise and other system imperfections
When you complete this third volume of our Field Expedient SDR series, you'll know enough to venture into the wild and start exploring the RF spectrum. Many of the online SDR tutorials and walkthroughs will make much more sense, allowing you to build more advanced radios and perform more advanced activities like reverse engineering and RF security research.
Why Read This Book
You will get a practical, hands-on bridge between radio cookbooks and dense theory: the book teaches digital communications through exercises that make SDR building blocks concrete. You’ll learn how transmitters, receivers, framing, error checking, and DSP algorithms fit together on real hardware without getting lost in heavy proofs.
Who Will Benefit
Hobbyists, RF engineers, and embedded/software engineers with some signal background who want a pragmatic, lab-focused introduction to SDR-based digital communications.
Level: Intermediate — Prerequisites: Basic signals and systems concepts (sampling, Fourier transform), comfort with algebra and complex numbers, and basic programming experience (Python or MATLAB/Octave); familiarity with Linux is helpful.
Key Takeaways
- Build a working SDR transmitter and receiver that handle framing, preambles, and payloads
- Implement and test common DSP blocks (FIR/IIR filters, FFT-based spectral analysis, windowing)
- Apply modulation and demodulation techniques (FSK/PSK/QAM) and basic synchronization methods
- Use error detection/correction primitives and evaluate link performance with BER measurements
- Deploy adaptive filtering/equalization and basic statistical signal processing tools to improve reception
Topics Covered
- 1. Introduction to Software Defined Radio and the Field Expedient Approach
- 2. Signals, Sampling, and Aliasing — Practical Considerations
- 3. Fourier Analysis and the FFT for SDR
- 4. Digital Modulation Basics: ASK, FSK, PSK and QAM
- 5. Framing, Preambles, Synchronization, and Error Checking
- 6. Digital Filter Design and Implementation (FIR & IIR)
- 7. Spectral Analysis, Windowing, and Practical Measurement
- 8. Adaptive Filtering, Equalization, and Noise Mitigation
- 9. Building Transmitters and Receivers with GNU Radio and RTL/HackRF
- 10. Hands-on Exercises: From Concept to Working Waveforms
- 11. Advanced Topics: Wavelets, Statistical Signal Processing, and Performance Metrics
- 12. Appendices: Tools, Example Code, and Troubleshooting
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
Sits between device-focused guides like The Hobbyist's Guide to RTL‑SDR and academic texts such as Software Defined Radio for Engineers—more hands-on than the latter and deeper on comms theory than the former.
