An Open Architecture for Signal Monitoring and Recording Based on SDR
and Docker Containers: A GNSS Use Case
Abstract
Signal monitoring and recording station architectures based on
software-defined radio (SDR) have been proposed and implemented since
several years. However, the large amount of data to be transferred,
stored, and managed when high sampling frequency and high quantization
depth are required, poses a limit to the performance, mostly because of
the data losses during the data transfer between the front-end and the
storage unit. To overcome these limitations, thus allowing a reliable,
high-fidelity recording of the signals as required by some applications,
a novel architecture named SMART (Signal Monitoring, Analysis and
Recording Tool) based on the implementation of Docker containers
directly on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) unit is presented. Such
paradigms allow for a fully open-source system being more affordable and
flexible than previous prototypes. The proposed architecture reduces
computational complexity, increases efficiency, and provides a compact,
cost-effective system that is easy to move and deploy. As a case study,
this architecture is implemented to monitor RFIs on Global Navigation
Satellite System (GNSS) L1/E1 and L5/E5 bands. The sample results show
the benefits of a stable, long-term capture at a high sampling frequency
to characterize the RFIs spectral signature effectively.