[USRP-users] USRP N210 Minimum Detectable Signal

[Srinagesh Sharma]

Hi all,
What is the minimum detectable signal(MDS) of the USRP N210 in comparison
to that of USRP1? How low or how high is the MDS of the N210 compared to
the USRP1?

Thanks,

[Robert Palumbo]

I can't speak for the USRP1, but the MDS of the N210 (w/ basic
dboards) is limited by the spurious free dynamic range of the ADC,
which is ~86dB. It saturates at ~5-10dBm (10dBm max input), so MDS is
around 10dBm - 86dB = -76dBm.

Of course you can always put an LNA in front of the ADC to go down
even lower :-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Srinagesh Sharma <***@umich.edu>
To: usrp-***@lists.ettus.com
Cc:
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 14:26:50 -0500
Subject: [USRP-users] USRP N210 Minimum Detectable Signal
Hi all,
What is the minimum detectable signal(MDS) of the USRP N210 in
comparison to that of USRP1? How low or how high is the MDS of the
N210 compared to the USRP1?

Thanks,

[Marcus D. Leech]

Post by Robert Palumbo
Of course you can always put an LNA in front of the ADC to go down
even lower :-)

Right, which is what *all* the active down-converter cards are. LNA +
downconverter + baseband/IF gain

In practice, you're limited by the noise figure of the down-converter.

[Matt Ettus]

This would only apply to the BasicRX and LFRX cards since they have no
gain. The other daughterboards would be much different.

In general, MDS and sensitivity are not usefuls spec for an SDR since
they are dependent on many factors like bandwidth and modulation.
Noise figure is the only really useful way to specify receiver
sensitivity, and the noise figure of USRPs with our daughterboards are
in the 4-9dB range.

The original question was how does the N210 compare to the USRP1. The
N200 and N210 will be better than the USRP1, by 1-3dB, depending on
daughterboard. This is mostly because they use a better ADC.

Matt

Post by Robert Palumbo
I can't speak for the USRP1, but the MDS of the N210 (w/ basic
dboards) is limited by the spurious free dynamic range of the ADC,
which is ~86dB. It saturates at ~5-10dBm (10dBm max input), so MDS is
around 10dBm - 86dB = -76dBm.
Of course you can always put an LNA in front of the ADC to go down
even lower :-)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 14:26:50 -0500
Subject: [USRP-users] USRP N210 Minimum Detectable Signal
Hi all,
What is the minimum detectable signal(MDS) of the USRP N210 in
comparison to that of USRP1? How low or how high is the MDS of the
N210 compared to the USRP1?
Thanks,
--
Srinagesh Sharma
University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor
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