Modular, open-source software transceiver for PHY/MAC research

The USRPTM (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) is a software-defined radio platform that has been widely adopted for wireless research in cognitive radio, cellular networks, and other application areas. USRP devices are often used with GNU Radio, a free and open-source DSP framework that allows designers to prototype with a combination of C++, Python, and graphical tools. This paper will investigate various methods that can be used to build complete communications stacks within GNU Radio. These methods will leverage advanced features of UHDTM (USRP Hardware Driver) and GNU radio to implement TDMA, CSMA and FHSS transceivers that can be modified in GNU Radio Companion - a graphical development environment. The implementation will also show how to interact with upper network and application layers, all within GNU Radio. The implementation presented in this paper will be open-source. It can serve as an educational resource, or as a basis for additional research.