Real world desktop software defined radio using the RTL-SDR and MATLAB/simulink: tutorial

In this four hour workshop we will present the fundamentals behind the design of a generic PHY layer software defined radio (SDR) and demonstrate the first principles implementation, design and real time operation of an SDR using off-the-air signals live in the workshop. We will use the $20 RTL-SDR USB device which can produce 8 bit I/Q samples at up to 2.8MHz sampling rate and receive over the range 50MHz to almost 1.7GHz. As part of the session we will build a first SDR implemented AM and then FM radio receiver, followed by implementations and demonstrations of 433MHz and 868MHz digital QAM receivers. We will also viewing some other signals around us (from IoT temperature sensors, mobile/wireless and so on). We will view all signals and show how to build all components and designs from first principles DSP theory using MATLAB/Simulink and run real time on a standard computing platform hosting MATLAB and drivers for the RTL-SDR.