http://hdl.handle.net/2117/1349 Sat, 25 May 2013 17:24:54 GMT 2013-05-25T17:24:54Z webmaster.bupc@upc.edu Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Servei de Biblioteques i Documentació no http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19268 Title: Special issue on power amplifier linearization Authors: Wood, John; Bertran Albertí, Eduardo Wed, 15 May 2013 16:33:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19268 2013-05-15T16:33:00Z Wood, John; Bertran Albertí, Eduardo no Guest editorial. Special issue on Power Amplifier linearisation http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19140 Title: Slew-rate and efficiency trade-off in slow envelope tracking power amplifiers Authors: Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel; Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo Abstract: This paper presents a study on the trade-off between the envelope's slew-rate and the drain efficiency when slower envelopes are considered to dynamically supply the power amplifier (PA). This paper discusses a method to limit the slew-rate (and consequently the bandwidth) of the signal's envelope. Moreover, since the envelope tracking (ET) technique using a slower version of the original envelope introduces nonlinear distortion, slow envelope dependent predistortion has to be also incorporated in the design of ET PAs. Experimental results showed that it is possible to find a compromise between the bandwidth and slew-rate reduction (necessary to cope with the specific envelope amplifier requirements) and the amount of drain efficiency degradation suffered due to the use of a slower version of the original envelope. Wed, 08 May 2013 17:27:04 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19140 2013-05-08T17:27:04Z Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel; Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo no Amplifier distortion, efficiency, envelope amplifier, envelope tracking, envelope-dependent digital predistortion, slew-rate This paper presents a study on the trade-off between the envelope's slew-rate and the drain efficiency when slower envelopes are considered to dynamically supply the power amplifier (PA). This paper discusses a method to limit the slew-rate (and consequently the bandwidth) of the signal's envelope. Moreover, since the envelope tracking (ET) technique using a slower version of the original envelope introduces nonlinear distortion, slow envelope dependent predistortion has to be also incorporated in the design of ET PAs. Experimental results showed that it is possible to find a compromise between the bandwidth and slew-rate reduction (necessary to cope with the specific envelope amplifier requirements) and the amount of drain efficiency degradation suffered due to the use of a slower version of the original envelope. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18575 Title: Telecomunicacions Authors: Berenguer Sau, Jordi Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:49:20 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18575 2013-04-03T13:49:20Z Berenguer Sau, Jordi no http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18282 Title: Telecomunicacions Authors: Berenguer Sau, Jordi Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:56:36 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18282 2013-03-13T16:56:36Z Berenguer Sau, Jordi no http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18158 Title: Advanced design features of Doherty power amplifiers Authors: Bertran Albertí, Eduardo; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Berenguer Sau, Jordi Abstract: A Doherty power amplifier (DPA) is an effective structure born in 1936 which, after a scarce revival around year 2000), had been strengthened from 2005 because its capability to combine linear amplification with power efficiency. Despite the conceptual simplicity of its basic operation, a lot of practical drawbacks shrink the theoretical behavior, thus leading a significant number of research works to overcome them. The main objective in DPA research is to increase efficiency while maintaining linearity and filling the specified bandwidth. This paper presents a survey of the state of the art of DPA advanced design aspects. After a short review of the DPA operation principles, aspects regarding improvements for linearity, power efficiency and amplification bandwidth are introduced. Besides, some alternative structures and technologies, as well as practical design aspects and some trade-offs which the designer usually has to face are also presented. Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:40:35 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18158 2013-03-08T19:40:35Z Bertran Albertí, Eduardo; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Berenguer Sau, Jordi no A Doherty power amplifier (DPA) is an effective structure born in 1936 which, after a scarce revival around year 2000), had been strengthened from 2005 because its capability to combine linear amplification with power efficiency. Despite the conceptual simplicity of its basic operation, a lot of practical drawbacks shrink the theoretical behavior, thus leading a significant number of research works to overcome them. The main objective in DPA research is to increase efficiency while maintaining linearity and filling the specified bandwidth. This paper presents a survey of the state of the art of DPA advanced design aspects. After a short review of the DPA operation principles, aspects regarding improvements for linearity, power efficiency and amplification bandwidth are introduced. Besides, some alternative structures and technologies, as well as practical design aspects and some trade-offs which the designer usually has to face are also presented. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18082 Title: Hybrid envelope amplifier for envelope tracking power amplifier transmitters Authors: Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Montoro López, Gabriel; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís Abstract: This paper presents an envelope tracking (ET) Power Amplifier (PA) whose architecture includes an efficient Envelope Amplifier (EA) and a bandwidth reduction algorithm suitable for real time applications. The EA consists of a hybrid amplifier combining switched and linear amplification. A band- width and slew-rate reduction algorithm has been incorporated in order to allow wide-band envelope amplifications. Non-linearities introduced by the Hybrid EA (HEA) and the dynamic supply are compensated with Digital Pre-Distortion. The ET PA has been tested using 64-QAM signals and commercial devices. Results show that non-linearities produced by the HEA are compens- able and that the architecture provides efficiency improvements compared to the conventional linear EA. Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:45:49 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18082 2013-03-05T18:45:49Z Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Montoro López, Gabriel; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís no This paper presents an envelope tracking (ET) Power Amplifier (PA) whose architecture includes an efficient Envelope Amplifier (EA) and a bandwidth reduction algorithm suitable for real time applications. The EA consists of a hybrid amplifier combining switched and linear amplification. A band- width and slew-rate reduction algorithm has been incorporated in order to allow wide-band envelope amplifications. Non-linearities introduced by the Hybrid EA (HEA) and the dynamic supply are compensated with Digital Pre-Distortion. The ET PA has been tested using 64-QAM signals and commercial devices. Results show that non-linearities produced by the HEA are compens- able and that the architecture provides efficiency improvements compared to the conventional linear EA. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18080 Title: Transmisor outphasing en UHF usando amplificadores clase E a GaN HEMT Authors: Marante, Reinel; García, José Angel; Ruíz, Maria Nieves; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel Abstract: A Chireix outphasing transmitter at UHF band is presented in this paper, based on class E RF power amplifiers. As recently proved in [1], properly transforming the load modulation path, imposed by the non-isolated combiner, into fundamental frequency impedan ce values at the device drain terminals as close as possible to those assuring zero voltage switching condition, good efficiency values may be kept along a significant output power range. A lumped element implementation of the amplifiers and the combiner, together with the use of GaN HEMTs, allowed controlling the output power over a 6 dB range with an efficiency value over 60%. Experiments with asymmetrical two tones, conceived as a discrete spectrum signal with a 1:4 envelope variation, have shown the capability of the arch itecture to be linearized using digital predistortion (DPD). In order to reproduce a spectrally efficient communication signal, with nulls in the envelope, a hybrid control strategy was employed, combining the outphasing between branches with amplitude variations of both RF excitation signals for the lower range of the envelope. Average drain efficiency and PAE values of 63% and 60.3% respectively have been measu red, for a 11.8 W and 5.06 dB PAPR WCDMA signal, while m eeting ACPR specifications. Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:32:38 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18080 2013-03-05T18:32:38Z Marante, Reinel; García, José Angel; Ruíz, Maria Nieves; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel no A Chireix outphasing transmitter at UHF band is presented in this paper, based on class E RF power amplifiers. As recently proved in [1], properly transforming the load modulation path, imposed by the non-isolated combiner, into fundamental frequency impedan ce values at the device drain terminals as close as possible to those assuring zero voltage switching condition, good efficiency values may be kept along a significant output power range. A lumped element implementation of the amplifiers and the combiner, together with the use of GaN HEMTs, allowed controlling the output power over a 6 dB range with an efficiency value over 60%. Experiments with asymmetrical two tones, conceived as a discrete spectrum signal with a 1:4 envelope variation, have shown the capability of the arch itecture to be linearized using digital predistortion (DPD). In order to reproduce a spectrally efficient communication signal, with nulls in the envelope, a hybrid control strategy was employed, combining the outphasing between branches with amplitude variations of both RF excitation signals for the lower range of the envelope. Average drain efficiency and PAE values of 63% and 60.3% respectively have been measu red, for a 11.8 W and 5.06 dB PAPR WCDMA signal, while m eeting ACPR specifications. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18079 Title: Envelope tracking amplification with reduced slew-rate and bandwidth envelopes Authors: Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Montoro López, Gabriel; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Bertran Albertí, Eduardo; Berenguer Sau, Jordi; Gelonch Bosch, Antonio José; García, José Angel Abstract: This paper presents an Envelope Tracking Pow- er Amplifier whose architecture includes a Hybrid Envelope Amplifier (HEA) and an algorithm to adapt the envelope’s characteristics to the HEA’s limitations. The HEA attempts to combine the high efficiency of a switched amplifier with the wide band capabilities of a linear amplifier. A modified Slew Rate (SR) reduction algorithm cope with the bandwidth and SR limitations of the HEA. On the other hand, the non-linearities introduced by this Envelope Amplifier (EA) and by the dynamic supply are compensated using Digital Pre-Distortion. Results show that these non-linearities are compensable and that the architecture offers higher efficiency figures compared to the conventional linear EA Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:26:37 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18079 2013-03-05T18:26:37Z Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Montoro López, Gabriel; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Bertran Albertí, Eduardo; Berenguer Sau, Jordi; Gelonch Bosch, Antonio José; García, José Angel no This paper presents an Envelope Tracking Pow- er Amplifier whose architecture includes a Hybrid Envelope Amplifier (HEA) and an algorithm to adapt the envelope’s characteristics to the HEA’s limitations. The HEA attempts to combine the high efficiency of a switched amplifier with the wide band capabilities of a linear amplifier. A modified Slew Rate (SR) reduction algorithm cope with the bandwidth and SR limitations of the HEA. On the other hand, the non-linearities introduced by this Envelope Amplifier (EA) and by the dynamic supply are compensated using Digital Pre-Distortion. Results show that these non-linearities are compensable and that the architecture offers higher efficiency figures compared to the conventional linear EA http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17758 Title: Comissioning of the decelerator test beam line in CTF3 Authors: Adli, E; Döbert, Steffan; Lillestol, R; Olvegaard, M; Syratchev, I; Carrillo, David; Toral, Fernando; Faus-Golfe, Angeles; García-Garrigos, JJ; Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Montoro López, Gabriel Abstract: The CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN was constructed by the CTF3 collaboration to study the feasibility of the concepts for a compact linear collider. The test beam line (TBL) recently added to the CTF3 machine was designed to study the CLIC decelerator beam dynamics and 12 GHz power production. The beam line consists of a FODO lattice with high precision BPM’s and quadrupoles on movers for precise beam alignment. A total of 16 Power Extraction and Transfer Structures (PETS) will be installed in between the quadrupoles to extract 12 GHz power from the drive beam provided by the CTF3 machine. The CTF3 drive beam with a bunchtrain length of 140 ns, 12 GHz bunch repetition frequency and an average current over the train of up to 28 A will be injected into the test beam line. Each PETS structure will produce 135 MW of 12 GHz power at nominal current. The beam will have lost more than 50 % of its initial energy of 150 MeV at the end of the beam line and will contain particles with energies between 65 MeV and 150 MeV. The beam line is completely installed and the PETS structures will be successively added until the end of 2011. The paper will describe the first results obtained during commissioning of the beam line and the first PETS prototype. Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:52:46 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17758 2013-02-14T11:52:46Z Adli, E; Döbert, Steffan; Lillestol, R; Olvegaard, M; Syratchev, I; Carrillo, David; Toral, Fernando; Faus-Golfe, Angeles; García-Garrigos, JJ; Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Montoro López, Gabriel no The CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN was constructed by the CTF3 collaboration to study the feasibility of the concepts for a compact linear collider. The test beam line (TBL) recently added to the CTF3 machine was designed to study the CLIC decelerator beam dynamics and 12 GHz power production. The beam line consists of a FODO lattice with high precision BPM’s and quadrupoles on movers for precise beam alignment. A total of 16 Power Extraction and Transfer Structures (PETS) will be installed in between the quadrupoles to extract 12 GHz power from the drive beam provided by the CTF3 machine. The CTF3 drive beam with a bunchtrain length of 140 ns, 12 GHz bunch repetition frequency and an average current over the train of up to 28 A will be injected into the test beam line. Each PETS structure will produce 135 MW of 12 GHz power at nominal current. The beam will have lost more than 50 % of its initial energy of 150 MeV at the end of the beam line and will contain particles with energies between 65 MeV and 150 MeV. The beam line is completely installed and the PETS structures will be successively added until the end of 2011. The paper will describe the first results obtained during commissioning of the beam line and the first PETS prototype. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17656 Title: Current status of the 12 MeV UPC race-track microtron Authors: Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Berenguer Sau, Jordi; Crisol, A; Gonzalez, Xavier; Montoro López, Gabriel; Rigla Perez, Juan Pablo; Roure Fernández, Francisco; Carrillo, David; Garcia-Tabares, Luis; Toral, F; Lucas, J; Aloev, A.V.; Shvedunov, V.I. Abstract: A com­pact race-track mi­crotron (RTM) with the max­i­mal out­put en­er­gy 12 MeV is under con­struc­tion at the Uni­ver­si­tat Politècnica de Catalun­ya (UPC) in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Sko­belt­syn In­sti­tute of Nu­cle­ar Physics of the Moscow State Uni­ver­si­ty, CIEMAT and a few Span­ish in­dus­tri­al com­pa­nies and med­i­cal cen­ters. The RTM end mag­nets are four-pole sys­tems with the mag­net­ic field cre­at­ed by a rare-earth per­ma­nent mag­net ma­te­ri­al. As a source of elec­trons a 3D off-ax­is elec­tron gun is used. These el­e­ments to­geth­er with a C-band ac­cel­er­at­ing struc­ture, dipole mag­nets, which allow to ex­tract the elec­tron beam with en­er­gy from 6 MeV to 12 MeV in 2 MeV step, and a fo­cus­ing quadrupole are placed in­side a vac­u­um cham­ber. We re­port on the cur­rent sta­tus of the tech­ni­cal de­sign and re­sults of tests of some of the com­po­nents. Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:01:40 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17656 2013-02-12T13:01:40Z Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Berenguer Sau, Jordi; Crisol, A; Gonzalez, Xavier; Montoro López, Gabriel; Rigla Perez, Juan Pablo; Roure Fernández, Francisco; Carrillo, David; Garcia-Tabares, Luis; Toral, F; Lucas, J; Aloev, A.V.; Shvedunov, V.I. no A com­pact race-track mi­crotron (RTM) with the max­i­mal out­put en­er­gy 12 MeV is under con­struc­tion at the Uni­ver­si­tat Politècnica de Catalun­ya (UPC) in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Sko­belt­syn In­sti­tute of Nu­cle­ar Physics of the Moscow State Uni­ver­si­ty, CIEMAT and a few Span­ish in­dus­tri­al com­pa­nies and med­i­cal cen­ters. The RTM end mag­nets are four-pole sys­tems with the mag­net­ic field cre­at­ed by a rare-earth per­ma­nent mag­net ma­te­ri­al. As a source of elec­trons a 3D off-ax­is elec­tron gun is used. These el­e­ments to­geth­er with a C-band ac­cel­er­at­ing struc­ture, dipole mag­nets, which allow to ex­tract the elec­tron beam with en­er­gy from 6 MeV to 12 MeV in 2 MeV step, and a fo­cus­ing quadrupole are placed in­side a vac­u­um cham­ber. We re­port on the cur­rent sta­tus of the tech­ni­cal de­sign and re­sults of tests of some of the com­po­nents. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17603 Title: RF and accelerating structure of 12 MeV UPC race-track microtron Authors: Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Gonzalez, Xavier; Montoro López, Gabriel; Carrillo, David; Garcia-Tabares, Luis; Toral, Fernando; Mathot, Serge Jean; Shvedunov, V.I. Abstract: We describe the design and technical characteristics of a C-band SW accelerating structure of a 12 MeV race-track microtron, which is under construction at the Technical University of Catalonia, and its RF system with a 5712 MHz magnetron as a source. Results of cold tests of the accelerating structure, before and after the brazing, and of high-power tests of the RF system at a special stand are reported. The main features of the magnetron frequency stabilization subsystem are also outlined. Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:17:03 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17603 2013-02-08T10:17:03Z Koubychine Merkulov, Youri Alexandrovich; Gonzalez, Xavier; Montoro López, Gabriel; Carrillo, David; Garcia-Tabares, Luis; Toral, Fernando; Mathot, Serge Jean; Shvedunov, V.I. no We describe the design and technical characteristics of a C-band SW accelerating structure of a 12 MeV race-track microtron, which is under construction at the Technical University of Catalonia, and its RF system with a 5712 MHz magnetron as a source. Results of cold tests of the accelerating structure, before and after the brazing, and of high-power tests of the RF system at a special stand are reported. The main features of the magnetron frequency stabilization subsystem are also outlined. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17549 Title: Slew-rate and efficiency trade-off in slow envelope tracking power amplifiers Authors: Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel Abstract: This paper presents a study on the trade-off between the envelope’s slew-rate and the drain efficiency when slower envelopes are considered to dynamically supply the power amplifier (PA). This paper discusses a method to limit the slew-rate (and consequently the bandwidth) of the signal’s envelope. Moreover, since the envelope tracking (ET) technique using a slower version of the original envelope introduces nonlinear distortion, slow envelope dependent predistortion has to be also incorporated in the design of ET PAs. Experimental results showed that it is possible to find a compromise between the bandwidth and slew-rate reduction (necessary to cope with the specific envelope amplifier requirements) and the amount of drain efficiency degradation suffered due to the use of a slower version of the original envelope. Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:49:50 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/17549 2013-01-31T15:49:50Z Vizarreta Paz, Pedro Pablo; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel no amplifier distortion, envelope-dependent digital predistortion, efficiency, envelope tracking, envelope amplifier, slew-rate This paper presents a study on the trade-off between the envelope’s slew-rate and the drain efficiency when slower envelopes are considered to dynamically supply the power amplifier (PA). This paper discusses a method to limit the slew-rate (and consequently the bandwidth) of the signal’s envelope. Moreover, since the envelope tracking (ET) technique using a slower version of the original envelope introduces nonlinear distortion, slow envelope dependent predistortion has to be also incorporated in the design of ET PAs. Experimental results showed that it is possible to find a compromise between the bandwidth and slew-rate reduction (necessary to cope with the specific envelope amplifier requirements) and the amount of drain efficiency degradation suffered due to the use of a slower version of the original envelope. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16595 Title: On the reusage of primary radio resources through the exploitation of the spatiotemporal robustness of the MIMO transmissions Authors: Medina Acosta, Gerardo Agni; Delgado Penin, José A. Abstract: The spatiotemporal robustness of the MIMO transmissions is exploited aiming at inducing opportunistic secondary communications on the primary radio resources. The proposed model makes use of the smallest singular values and the Extreme Value Theory for characterizing the robustness of the MIMO systems, having always the premise of preventing significant degradations in the performance of the primary communications, while at the same time an attractive number of potential opportunities for secondary are intended to be offered. So, the idea behind the suggested scheme consists in reusing the information that is already available within the primary MIMO networks aiming at cotransmitting opportunistically in a clever manner, which at the end will allow us to make a much more efficient use of both the natural and technical resources. Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:16:41 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16595 2012-09-27T18:16:41Z Medina Acosta, Gerardo Agni; Delgado Penin, José A. no The spatiotemporal robustness of the MIMO transmissions is exploited aiming at inducing opportunistic secondary communications on the primary radio resources. The proposed model makes use of the smallest singular values and the Extreme Value Theory for characterizing the robustness of the MIMO systems, having always the premise of preventing significant degradations in the performance of the primary communications, while at the same time an attractive number of potential opportunities for secondary are intended to be offered. So, the idea behind the suggested scheme consists in reusing the information that is already available within the primary MIMO networks aiming at cotransmitting opportunistically in a clever manner, which at the end will allow us to make a much more efficient use of both the natural and technical resources. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16464 Title: Look-up table implementation of a slow envelope dependent digital predistorter for envelope tracking power amplifiers Authors: Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel Abstract: This letter presents a dynamic slow envelope dependent digital predistorter (SED-DPD) capable of compensating for the nonlinear distortion and memory effects that arise in envelope tracking (ET) power amplifiers (PAs) when using a slow version of the signal's envelope to dynamically supply the PA drain voltage. Moreover, a new DPD architecture based on the combination of several basic predistortion cells (BPCs) is presented to allow the FPGA implementation of the proposed SED-DPD. Finally, results showing the necessity and linearization performance of the proposed dynamic SED-DPD are provided. Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:20:52 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16464 2012-09-10T12:20:52Z Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Montoro López, Gabriel no Digital predistortion (DPD), envelope tracking (ET), power amplifier (PA), slow envelope This letter presents a dynamic slow envelope dependent digital predistorter (SED-DPD) capable of compensating for the nonlinear distortion and memory effects that arise in envelope tracking (ET) power amplifiers (PAs) when using a slow version of the signal's envelope to dynamically supply the PA drain voltage. Moreover, a new DPD architecture based on the combination of several basic predistortion cells (BPCs) is presented to allow the FPGA implementation of the proposed SED-DPD. Finally, results showing the necessity and linearization performance of the proposed dynamic SED-DPD are provided. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/15133 Title: SDR tools and projects for electrical engineering education Authors: Marojevic, Vuk; Gómez Miguelez, Ismael; Arteaga, Xavier; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Gelonch Bosch, Antonio José Abstract: This paper focuses on the software-defined radio (SDR) educational aspects. We describe a few recent SDR projects and tools that were developed as part of a graduate electrical engineering course at the School on Telecommunication and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC) in Castelldefels, Barcelona. EETAC is part of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). It applies the project based learning (PBL) concept and offers technical and scientific courses in Telecommunication and Aerospace Science and Technology (BSc, MSc, and PhD). The tools we describe here offer hands-on experience on several basic and advanced SDR principles. We describe our experience and the lessons learned. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:55:48 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/15133 2012-02-14T15:55:48Z Marojevic, Vuk; Gómez Miguelez, Ismael; Arteaga, Xavier; Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís; Gelonch Bosch, Antonio José no This paper focuses on the software-defined radio (SDR) educational aspects. We describe a few recent SDR projects and tools that were developed as part of a graduate electrical engineering course at the School on Telecommunication and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC) in Castelldefels, Barcelona. EETAC is part of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). It applies the project based learning (PBL) concept and offers technical and scientific courses in Telecommunication and Aerospace Science and Technology (BSc, MSc, and PhD). The tools we describe here offer hands-on experience on several basic and advanced SDR principles. We describe our experience and the lessons learned.