PrismTech has ported its software-defined radio (SDR) middleware to a tiny ARM-based single-board computer (SBC), in order to demonstrate the stack's low SWaP (size, weight, and power) requirements. The Spectra Operating Environment (OE) for Gumstix boards runs on Linux, and targets both government and civilian applications.

OE is the runtime component of PrismTech's Spectra suite of SDR development tools. The suite is said to offer model-driven design interfaces and extensive “code generation” capabilities.

The Spectra OE middleware stack was optimized for low SWaP , with a footprint as small as 2MB, PrismTech said. Low SWaP enables the stack to run on extremely minimalistic hardware platforms, such as Gumstix boards.

The OE stack comprises:

• Core framework
• CORBA middleware
• CORBA object services
  • lightweight event service
  • lightweight naming service
  • lightweight log service
• XML parser

Developed by “two of the original SDR archtitects of the SCA” (Software Communications Architecture), OE is said to support the latest 2.2.2 version of SCA requirements.

Dominick Paniscotti, GM of SDR, stated, “Deployment on Gumstix's small form factor computer demonstrates our ability to meet the most demanding resource-constrained computing environments without sacrificing SCA compliance.”

Availability

PrismTech's Spectra tools are available now. The OE runtime supports MontaVista Linux, Red Hat Linux, and several commercial RTOSes (real-time operating systems).

 
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