Zynq7010+AD9363 SDR Scheda Radio Software Defined 70MHZ-6GHz per Pluto SDR

The Zynq-7010 + AD9363 Software Defined Radio (SDR) board is a compact and versatile radio platform designed for wideband wireless experimentation and prototyping. It is functionally aligned with the PlutoSDR class of devices and supports operation across a very wide frequency range from approximately 70 MHz to 6 GHz, making it suitable for both academic research and practical wireless system development.

Hardware architecture

At the core of the board is the Xilinx Zynq-7010 SoC, which tightly integrates:

• A dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processing system (PS)

• A programmable logic (PL) FPGA fabric

This heterogeneous architecture enables real-time signal processing to be split efficiently between software (ARM cores) and hardware acceleration (FPGA), which is essential for high-throughput and low-latency SDR applications.

The RF front end is provided by the AD9363 wideband RF transceiver, a highly integrated, low-power device that supports:

• 1×1 transmit and receive (half-duplex)

• Programmable channel bandwidths

• On-chip filtering, mixers, and PLLs

• Direct conversion (zero-IF) architecture

Frequency range and RF capabilities

The AD9363 enables RF operation from 70 MHz to 6 GHz, covering a broad spectrum of wireless standards and experimental bands, including:

• ISM bands (433 MHz, 868/915 MHz, 2.4 GHz)

• LTE and sub-6 GHz 5G research bands

• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and proprietary wireless links

• Radar, sensing, and spectrum monitoring applications

The wide tuning range and flexible bandwidth configuration make the platform particularly attractive for multi-standard and reconfigurable radio systems.

Software Defined Radio functionality

Being an SDR platform, most of the radio functionality—such as modulation, demodulation, filtering, and protocol handling—is implemented in software and FPGA logic rather than fixed hardware. This allows:

• Rapid reconfiguration of the radio

• Support for multiple waveforms on the same hardware

• Experimentation with custom PHY and MAC layer designs

The board is commonly used with:

• Linux-based embedded systems

• Industrial I/O (IIO) drivers

• GNU Radio and MATLAB/Simulink workflows

Its close compatibility with Analog Devices PlutoSDR ecosystems allows reuse of existing tools, firmware, and SDR signal-processing blocks.