To improve productivity, quality and continued development of software-defined radio (SDR) technology, the SDR Forum has issued an industry-wide request for information (RFI) regarding current practices for design flows and tools used by the industry in creating radio systems, software, waveforms, and components. The idea here is to help the SDR Forum develop a series of best practices for the design processes and tools used in creating SDR systems, software, waveforms, and components.

According to the Forum, the RFI will address several key areas in the design process and tools sector, such as:

• common terminology that can be used to describe the design flows and tools.
• tool capabilities that drive software radio design.
• preferred design flows in creating software radio technology.
• the gaps that exist between tool capabilities and preferred design flows.

The forum’s newly established Design Process and Tools Working Group is coordinating this RFI effort, which can be found in both an online or downloadable version at www.sdrforum.org. The RFI is designed to be simple and easy to complete, with a response for a single area of expertise requiring less than 15 minutes to complete, according to the organizers. Anonymous and partial replies are also accepted, the SDR Forum release said.

The responses to the RFI are due by Aug. 26, 2005. Of special note, all respondents to the RFI who submit their completed survey prior to Aug. 15 will be automatically eligible to participate in a drawing to win a free Apple iPod, said the SDR Forum.

“The design process is closely tied to the tool chain,” said working group chair Lee Pucker. “Creating best practice techniques are crucial for technology developers and tool vendors working with waveforms, platform infrastructure, platform hardware, core technology, and systems within an SDR context. As the degree of freedom in process and tool choice becomes increasingly limited–when mapping SDR applications to platforms—the need for clearly defined best practice techniques becomes essential.”

Results from the RFI will be evaluated and presented during the SDR Forum’s annual technical conference and product exposition—SDR ’05. This year’s event, SDR '05, will be at the Hyatt Regency-Orange County (near the Anaheim resorts) in California, Nov. 14-18.

For more information, contact Design Process and Tools Working Group chair Lee Pucker at lee_pucker@spectrumsignal.com.