Modern devices provide a multitude of services that use radio frequencies in continual smaller packages. This size leads to an antenna used to transmit and receive information being usually very inefficient and a lot of power is wasted just to be able to transmit a signal. To mitigate this problem a new antenna was introduced by Dr. Manteghi that is capable of working efficiently across a large band. The antenna achieves this large band by doing quick frequency hopping across multiple channels. In order to test the performance of this antenna against more common antennas, a software radio was needed, such that tested antennas can be analyzed using multiple modulations. This paper presents a software defined radio system that was designed for the purpose of testing the bit-error rate of digital modulations schemes using described and other antennas. The designed system consists of a DSP, an FPGA, and commercially available modules. The combination allows the system to be flexible with high performance, while being affordable. Commercial modules are available for multiple frequency bands and capable of fast frequency switching required to test the antenna. The DSP board contains additional peripherals that allows for more complex projects in the future. The block structure of the system is also very educational as each stage of transmission and reception can be tested and observed. The full system has been constructed and tested using simulated and real signals. A code was developed for communication between commercial modules and the DSP, bit error rate testing, data transmission, signal generation, and signal reception. A graphical user interface (GUI) was developed to help user with information display and system control. This thesis describes the software-defined-radio design in detail and shows test results at the end. / Master of Science

Hydrocarbon exploration, global navigation satellite systems, computed tomography, and aircraft avionics are just a few examples of applications that require system operation at an ambient temperature, pressure, or radiation level outside the range covered by military specifications. The electronics employed in these applications are known as "extreme environment electronics." On account of the increased cost resulting from both process modifications and the use of exotic substrate materials, only a handful of semiconductor foundries have specialized in the production of extreme environment electronics. Protection of these electronic systems in an extreme environment may be attained by encapsulating sensitive circuits in a controlled environment, which provides isolation from the hostile ambient, often at a significant cost and performance penalty. In a significant departure from this traditional approach, system designers have begun to use commercial off-the-shelf technology platforms with built in mitigation techniques for extreme environment applications. Such an approach simultaneously leverages the state of the art in technology performance with significant savings in project cost. Silicon-germanium is one such commercial technology platform that demonstrates potential for deployment into extreme environment applications as a result of its excellent performance at cryogenic temperatures, remarkable tolerance to radiation-induced degradation, and monolithic integration with silicon-based manufacturing. In this dissertation the radiation response of silicon-germanium technology is investigated, and novel transistor-level layout-based techniques are implemented to improve the radiation tolerance of HBT digital logic.