The SpectrumX Mobile Experiment Platform

The SpectrumX Mobile Experiment Platform (MEP) is an software radio instrument designed to support a wide range of spectrum experiments. It is capable of passive data acquisition as well as active transmission to enable research into signal propagation and waveform co-existence. The mobile instrument includes an analog front-end with calibration, positioning, and timing features, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) radio, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) compute platform for on-instrument data processing. Four synchronous receive channels and two transmit channels operate up to 6 GHz, with an optional wide-band tuner. The hardware, firmware, and software for the MEP are extensible and reproducible, with components available through a combination of off-the-shelf hardware and rapid prototyping fabrication. More than a dozen MEPs have been constructed through student workshops and are being used for ongoing field experiments. This paper details the design of the MEP, including component selection and initial testing.