USRP Upgrade for High Frequency 5G Millimeter Wave Solution

Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices are software-defined radios (SDR) used for RF applications. USRP transceivers can transmit and receive RF signals below 6 GHz, and you can use them for applications in communications education and research. USRP is suitable for a variety of applications, including 5G wireless communication research, radar exploration, algorithm development, etc. for wireless signal transmission and reception analysis. However, USRP does not support the commercialized higher frequency 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication technology, and the price of buying a new mmWave instrument may cost more than 300,000 US dollars, which is very expensive. We began to think about whether we have the opportunity to use the existing USRP with mmWave upgrades so the existing instruments can be utilized, while costs remain economical. For the existing USRP users, the original software development resources can continue to be used, making this an advantageous upgrade plan.