Department of Electrical Engineering Communcation – ELEC341

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Communcation – ELEC341
Department of Electrical Engineering
Qatar University

Design and Implementation of a

Unidirectional Wired Communications Link
Using ADALM-Pluto SDR

Report by
Hamza Darwish
Mohamed Farag
Instructor
Dr.Ridha Hamila

Date:
2025/5/15

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ABSTRACT
This project illustrates the design and implementation of a point-to-point digital audio communication
system using two ADALM-Pluto Hardware Defined Radios (SDRs) connected via a 10 cm coaxial
cable. Developed in MATLAB and Simulink, the system transmits pre-recorded audio data by
converting it into amplitude vectors, applying Reed Solomon error correction, and modulating the data
using digital schemes including BPSK, QPSK, and QAM. Rather than streaming raw audio, the signal
is framed and synchronized using a predefined preamble to ensure reliable reception. The receiver
performs matched filtering, symbol timing recovery, and carrier synchronization to accurately
demodulate and decode the transmitted message, which is then reconstructed into an audio stream.
The system's performance is evaluated using constellation diagrams, Bit Error Rate (BER), Error
Vector Magnitude (EVM), and Modulation Error Ratio (MER) to assess signal integrity and
transmission accuracy. Results demonstrate successful real time audio delivery and validate the
effectiveness of digital baseband processing in SDR-based wired communication systems.
.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................ii
LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................4
1 Introduction..................................................................................................5
1.1 Project
Objectives..............................................................................................................5
2 Theory and Design......................................................................................6
2.1 Transmission.......................................................................................6
2.2 Reception............................................................................................7
3 System Implementation...............................................................................8
3.1 Hardware Setup...................................................................................8
3.2 Software Stack....................................................................................8
3.2.1 Transmitter Block........................................................................9
3.2.2 Simulink Received Model..........................................................10
4 Simulation And Testing..............................................................................11
4.1 QAM....................................................................................................13
4.2 BPSK..................................................................................................15
4.3 QPSK..................................................................................................17
5 Results and Discussion..............................................................................21
6 Conclusion.................................................................................................23
Future Work.........................................................................................................24
REFERENCES....................................................................................................25

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 ADC Converter ........................................................................................... 5
Figure 2 Line Coding ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 3 BPSK.......................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 QPSK Modulator Block Digram .................................................................. 6
Figure 5 Rasied CosFilter......................................................................................... 7
Figure 6 Dision reigon for 4PSK and 8PSK .............................................................. 7
Figure 7 QPSK Demodulator .................................................................................... 8
Figure 8 Transmiter Side For QPSK......................................................................... 8
Figure 9 Inside Bit Genrator ..................................................................................... 8
Figure 10 Smaple Of Simlink Layout For Transmiter................................................. 9
Figure 11 Simulink Resived model layout ................................................................. 9
Figure 12 Inner Structure of the QPSK Receiver Block ............................................. 9
Figure 13 Smilation layout ....................................................................................... 10
Figure 14 After Raised Cosin Filter BPSK Simulation ............................................. 11
Figure 15 After simple Syncronization BPSK Simulation Reults ............................. 11
Figure 16 After Carrier Syncronization BPSK Simulation Results ........................... 11
Figure 17 After And Bfore Rasied Cosine Filter....................................................... 12
Figure 18 After Rasied Cosine Filter 4Qam Results ................................................ 13
Figure 19 After Symploe Syncronization 4Qam Results .......................................... 13
Figure 20 After Carrier Syncronization 4Qam Results............................................. 13
Figure 21 Before and After Rasieed Cosine Filter 4Qam Results ........................... 14
Figure 22 After Raised Cosin Filter QPSK Simulation Results ................................ 15
Figure 23 After Symbole Syncronization QPSK Simulation Results ........................ 15
Figure 24 After Carrier Syncronization QPSK Simulation Results ........................... 15
Figure 25 After and Before Rasieed Cosine Filter QPSK Simulation Reults ........... 16
Figure 26 After symbol Syncronizer Qam ................................................................ 17
Figure 27 After Raised Cosine RX filter Qam .......................................................... 17
Figure 28 Raised Cosine RX Filter Qam ................................................................. 18
Figure 29 After Carrier Synchrionizer Qam ............................................................. 18
Figure 30 After symbole Syncronizer BPSK ............................................................ 19
Figure 31 After Rasied Cosine Rx Filter BPSK........................................................ 19

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Figure 32 After raised cosine Transimiter filter BPSK ............................................. 20

Figure 33 After Carier synchronization BPSK ......................................................... 20
Figure 34 After cosine RX filter QPSK ..................................................................... 21
Figure 35 After Symbole Syncronization QPSK ...................................................... 21
Figure 36 After Rasied Cosine Rx Filter QPSK ....................................................... 21
Figure 37 After Carrier Syncronization QPSK ......................................................... 22
Figure 38 Constellation after Symbol Timing QPSK ................................................ 22
Figure 39 Final QPSK Constellation after Carrier Sync ........................................... 22

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1 INTRODUCTION
Software defined radios (SDRs) like the ADALM-Pluto offer a reconfigurable platform for
implementing communication systems.This project leverages the ADALM-Pluto to establish a wired
audio communication link, simulating the transmission of modulated digital data between a transmitter
and a receiver through a coaxial cable. The choice of a wired environment removes wireless
uncertainties, enabling clear evaluation of modulation, framing, and synchronization.

1.1 Project Objectives

• Develop a point-to-point audio transmission system using SDRs.
• Convert audio signals into a modulated digital format suitable for SDR transmission.
• Apply error correction and synchronization for reliable frame recovery.
• Assess the performance of different modulation schemes.
• Reconstruct and play back the received audio.

2 THEORY AND DESIGN

This introduction provides the theory of digital communication with the modulation methods QAM,
QPSK, and BPSK. The explanation is divided into transmission and reception processes. The theory
is then implemented using MATLAB/Simulink with the Communications Toolbox and the PlutoSDR
support package in order to model and simulate the transmitter and receiver subsystems.
2.1 Transmission
To send audio through a Software Defined Radio (SDR) like the ADALM-PLUTO, the analog signal is
initially converted to digital. This is accomplished by an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), which
samples and quantizes the audio signal and holds it in memory for processing as we can see from
Figure 1.

Figure 1 ADC Converter

Following digitization, the signal becomes a binary bitstream composed of 0s and 1s. The bitstream is
then processed through a line encoder, transforming it into a digital waveform suitable for modulation.

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This would be either a unipolar or bipolar electric signal depending on the encoding scheme
employed (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 Line Coding

The coded message is subsequently modulated. Using BPSK, each bit is utilized for phase shifting
the carrier wave by either 0° or 180°. For QPSK and QAM, the bit stream is broken down into two
concurrent flows with a serial to parallel converter, each pair of bits or group of bits specifying an
individual constellation point with assigned amplitude and phase (see Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3 BPSK

Figure 4 QPSK Modulator Block Digram

A pulse shaping filter a root raised cosine filter in the vast majority of cases is used with the
modulated signal prior to transmission. The goal is to minimize intersymbol interference (ISI) and
constrain the bandwidth of the signal. Smooth transition of signals and enhanced spectral efficiency
are also achieved. Real world implementation uses a truncated form of the filter with the roll off
parameter α as illustrated by Figures 5

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Figure 5 Rasied CosFilter

2.2 Reception
When the signal travels over a physical channel, such as a coaxial cable, it is subject to distortion,
noise, and possible timing and frequency offsets. A primary measure of performance at this point is
the Bit Error Rate (BER), which is defined as the number of bits received in error divided by the
number of bits sent.
The receiver initially records and down converts the baseband received signal. It then applies an
equalization root raised cosine receive filter that reverses the effect of pulse shaping at the
transmitter. Depending on the modulation scheme QAM, QPSK, or BPSK the signal is demodulated
correspondingly .
Before demodulation, synchronization must take place. This includes frequency or phase offsets
correction (carrier synchronization), timing synchronization where the signal is synchronized to
symbol boundaries, and start of a frame detection (frame synchronization). Once synchronized, the
signal is mapped to its closest constellation point depending on decision regions. This ultimate
mapping recovers the original bits transmitted.
Once the signal is synchronized it passes through the decision region estimator. Decision region is
the boundary that enables the sampler with the choice of whether the signal is a 2 or 3 if the signal is
located on the line known as decision boundary such scenario is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Dision reigon for 4PSK and 8PSK

Every step involved in the transmitting and receiving process plays a vital role in the integrity of the
received signal. Theoretical understandings of modulation, filtering, and synchronization are the
foundation upon which a reliable SDR-based communication system is established.
The reception process generally commences from the antenna, which receives the incoming
electromagnetic waves and converts them into electrical signals. The signals are filtered and
downconverted to baseband frequencies in order to condition them for demodulation. Several

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demodulation techniques can be used even at this step, such as BPSK, QPSK, and QAM, as

shown in the illustration of the example in Figure 7.

Figure 7 QPSK Demodulator

3 SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
3.1 Hardware Setup:

• Two ADALM-Pluto SDRs

• One 30cm 50 Ω coaxial cable

3.2Software Stack:

• MATLAB R2024b

• Simulink with SDR Toolbox

3.2.1 Transmitter Block: The Simulink simulation of the transmission side is depicted in
Figure 8 with a close-up of the transmitter in Figure 9. The initialization of the transmitter is
conducted using a special MATLAB configuration script. The script reads a WAV audio file
and transforms it into ASCII-formatted amplitude vectors. It is then framed and subjected to
Reed–Solomon error coding for increased channel impairment robustness.To assist with
synchronization, a 13-bit Barker code is used. This code is first converted from bipolar to
unipolar format and then oversampled by a factor of two, generating exactly 13 QPSK
symbols. These symbols are used later in the receiver’s Data Decoding subsystem for frame
synchronization [1].

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Figure 8 Transmiter Side For QPSK

Figure 9 Inside Bit Genrator

The principal message bitstream is scrambled in order to avoid long strings of repetitive bits that
might result in synchronization issues. The scrambled bitstream is then appended with the
oversampled Barker code and subjected to a baseband modulator (for example, either BPSK, QPSK,
or QAM) based on the desired scheme. The resultant symbols are filtered using a root raised cosine
(RRC) transmitter filter for bandwidth control and spectral efficiency.Then the processed signal is sent
through the ADALM-PLUTO SDR. Digital upconversion is carried out by the Pluto block and the signal
is sent with a center frequency of 950MHz and a transmission power of 1 W.To facilitate audio
transmission in real-time along with flexibility in modulation scheme, the init file of the transmitter was
changed accordingly. The changes allowed modulation format selection dynamically along with
uninterrupted audio streaming. More details on the changes are given in the appendix.

Receiver Block: The receiver setup is similarly configured through a MATLAB script. It receives the
waveform via Pluto SDR, applies downconversion and matched filtering, detects the frame using a
known preamble, and demodulates the signal. The ASCII formatted output is cleaned and parsed into
numeric samples, which are then reconstructed into audio.

Audio Reconstruction: After demodulation, the output string is converted back to amplitude values
using MATLAB’s str2num function and reshaped for playback using the audioplayer object. The
sampling rate for playback is set to 10 kHz.

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Simulink Transmitter Model:

The transmitter model includes the following key blocks:

• Bits Generation

• 4-QAM Modulator or QBSK or BPSK

• Square Root Raised Cosine Filter (Upsample by 2)

• ADALM-PLUTO Transmitter Block

Figure 10 Smaple Of Simlink Layout For Transmiter

3.2.2 Simulink Resived Model:

On the receiver side, the signal is received by the ADALAM-PLUTO receiver and is down sampled
into baseband as we can see from figure 11 and passed on to the receiver subsystem in Figure 12.

Figure 11 Simulink Resived model layout

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Figure 12 Inner Structure of the QPSK Receiver Block

Figure 12: Inner Structure of the QPSK Receiver Block

The following block diagram represents the critical signal processing blocks of the QPSK Receiver.
The received signal is firstly subjected to Automatic Gain Control (AGC) that dynamically regulates
the amplitude of the signal up to a set value for a stable signal level. It is a crucial step towards signal
reconstruction and conditioning the signal for subsequent processing [1].The signal is then filtered by
a Raised Cosine Receiver Filter, which is the counterpart of the transmitter filter (having the same roll-
off rate) in order to eliminate inter-symbol interference and gain the original sampling rate.After
filtering, the signal is fed into the synchronization chain, which removes a number of distortions added
by the transmission channel. The process of synchronization starts with Coarse Frequency
Compensation, which employs an open-loop method for correcting large frequency offsets due to
oscillator frequency mismatches or channel-induced drifts.

Following that is Symbol Synchronization (Timing Recovery), ensuring that the sampling is performed
on the right symbol instances. It has four main components:

• Timing Error Detection (e.g., Gardner or Zero-Crossing methods) for the estimation of the
symbol timing error

• Loop filter for smoothing phase corrections and avoiding sudden changes in the clock

• Interpolation control for calculating the basepoint index and fractional interval, and

• Interpolator for adaptive adjustment of sample positions according to the calculated delay.

Following the synchronization of the symbols, Fine Frequency Compensation is carried out by the
Carrier Synchronizer, which makes accurate compensations for residual carrier phase and frequency
offsets. In contrast with the coarse compensations, this stage compensates for smaller drifts with
precision and accommodates a broad set of modulation schemes such as QPSK, BPSK, OQPSK,

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PAM, and rectangular QAM.The last step of synchronization is the Frame Synchronizer, which finds a
predetermined Barker code preamble in order to determine the beginning of a data frame. It brings
the received stream of symbols into synchronization with the appropriate frame boundaries for valid
decoding and bit error reduction.Finally, after synchronization has taken place, the Data Decoding
phase eliminates any residual phase ambiguities, removes the Barker preamble, and descrambles the
signal to reconstruct the original data sent. Real-time visual monitoring and performance analysis
using constellation and spectrum scopes is maintained throughout the chain.This modular layout
supports easy adaptation to different modulation schemes by adjusting parameters or substituting
individual blocks, making it highly flexible and robust for diverse communication scenarios.

4 SIMULATION AND TESTING

This part entails simulation and verification of the communication system to assess its performance
under varying modulations. With MATLAB and Simulink, the complete transmission and reception
process was simulated to see how each different modulating type BPSK, QPSK, and 4-QAM
influences the resultant signal. The simulation output consists of constellation diagrams, signal
waveforms, and synchronization behavior for each scenario. From the insights, system functionality
was verified prior to moving on to hardware implementation on the ADALM-Pluto SDR for real-world
experimentation.
This block diagram shows a QPSK Transmitter and Receiver system employed for analyzing the
performance of a digital communication channel under actual channel conditions as we can see from
figure 13. The transmitter modulates and sends out the message signal, which goes through an
AWGN channel having frequency offset and variable time delay added to it for modeling real-world
transmission distortions. The receiver recovers and demodulates the received signal. The original and
received messages are cross-checked for the calculation of the Bit Error Rate (BER), which is then
shown on the BER Display block for analyzing the performance.The same simulation environment will
be employed using BPSK and 4-QAM modulations to evaluate the performance of both under the
same channel conditions.

Figure 13 Smilation layout

4.1 BPSK Results:

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Figure 14 After Raised Cosin Filter BPSK Simulation

Figure 15 After simple Syncronization BPSK Simulation Reults

Figure 16 After Carrier Syncronization BPSK Simulation Results

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Figure 17 After And Bfore Rasied Cosine Filter

In the BPSK simulation, the system was tested under the same channel conditions as other
modulation schemes to provide a fair performance comparison. The key performance metrics
obtained were:

• Error Vector Magnitude (EVM): 5%

This indicates perfect symbol placement in the constellation diagram with no deviation from
the ideal symbol locations. Such a result suggests very high signal integrity and precise
demodulation in the receiver.

• Modulation Error Ratio (MER): 26 dB

An High MER value reflects an practical transmission with little noise or distortion observed in
the received signal. This typically implies that the carrier-to-noise ratio was exceptionally high
during the simulation.

• Bit Error Rate (BER): 5%

Despite the ideal EVM and MER values, the BER was found to be 5%, indicating that bit-level
errors occurred during transmission. This discrepancy is likely due to channel impairments
such as timing offset or residual synchronization issues that affected the bit decisions post-
demodulation.

Overall, the BPSK modulation demonstrated excellent signal quality with perfect
constellation performance, though a moderate BER suggests room for improvement
in synchronization or framing stages of the receiver chain.

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4.2 4Qam Results:

Figure 18 After Rasied Cosine Filter 4Qam Results

Figure 19 After Symploe Syncronization 4Qam Results

Figure 20 After Carrier Syncronization 4Qam Results

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Figure 21 Before and After Rasieed Cosine Filter 4Qam Results

Under the same channel conditions:

• EVM: 5.19%
• MER: 25.69 dB
• BER: 15%
Conclusion:
4QAM exhibited slightly higher EVM and BER than BPSK, which is expected due to the denser
constellation. The elevated BER (15%) suggests increased vulnerability to noise and phase offsets,
reinforcing the trade-off between spectral efficiency and robustness.

4.3 QPSK Results:

Figure 22 After Raised Cosin Filter QPSK Simulation Results

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Figure 23 After Symbole Syncronization QPSK Simulation Results

Figure 24 After Carrier Syncronization QPSK Simulation Results

Figure 25 After and Before Rasieed Cosine Filter QPSK Simulation Reults

The QPSK system was simulated under the same channel conditions as BPSK and 4-QAM to ensure
consistency in performance evaluation. The obtained results were:

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• Error Vector Magnitude (EVM): 7.85%

This moderate EVM value indicates noticeable symbol deviation in the constellation diagram,
likely caused by channel impairments such as noise, timing jitter, or residual frequency
offsets.
• Modulation Error Ratio (MER): 21.1 dB
A lower MER compared to BPSK and 4-QAM reflects a reduced signal-to-noise ratio and
higher modulation error, which impacts the receiver’s ability to accurately demodulate
symbols.
• Bit Error Rate (BER): 18%
The relatively high BER highlights a significant number of bit errors during the transmission.
This suggests that the QPSK scheme, while offering improved data rate over BPSK, is more
sensitive to synchronization errors and noise under the given channel conditions.

Conclusion:
While QPSK provides higher spectral efficiency than BPSK, it showed degraded performance in this
simulation. The increased EVM and reduced MER, alongside a high BER, emphasize the need for
improved synchronization, channel estimation, or error correction techniques when using QPSK under
similar channel conditions.

5 PRACTICAL TESTING
Simulation and testing were carried out using a hardware in the loop setup with ADALM-Pluto SDRs.
The system was evaluated using QAM modulation across a 10cm coaxial cable. Below are key
diagnostic visualizations and results.
5.1 4Qam Constellation Diagrams:

Figure 26 After symbol Syncronizer Qam

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Figure 27 After Raised Cosine RX filter Qam

Figure 28 Raised Cosine RX Filter Qam

Figure 29 After Carrier Synchrionizer Qam

The system was tested using 4-QAM modulation to evaluate receiver performance under ideal wired
conditions. The test setup included audio sample framing, symbol mapping, pulse shaping, and real
time transmission through a coaxial cable using ADALM-Pluto SDRs. At the receiver, several key
processing stages were analyzed to ensure reliable recovery of transmitted data.
Constellation and Synchronization Results:

Figure 26 After symbole Syncronization Qam:This figure displays the QAM constellation after the

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symbol timing recovery stage. The received symbols begin to form a ring like structure, indicating that
the system is correctly identifying the symbol periods and aligning sample instants near symbol
centers. Although some dispersion remains due to residual carrier offset, the improvement over raw
input is significant.
Figure 27 After Raised Cosine RX filter Qam: Here, the output of the matched filtering process is
shown. The constellation appears denser and more compact, indicating reduced intersymbol
interference (ISI). The use of a root raised cosine filter at both the transmitter and receiver end
successfully minimizes ISI, improving symbol clarity and preparing the signal for accurate
demodulation.
Figure 28 Raised Cosine RX Filter Qam: The power spectral density (PSD) of the signal before and
after filtering is plotted. The blue curve represents the filtered signal, while the yellow shows the
unfiltered version. The spectrum confirms effective band limiting, with the signal neatly confined to a
200 kHz bandwidth. This verifies that the pulse shaping and matched filtering stages function correctly
and adhere to spectral constraints.
Figure 29 After Carrier Synchrionizer Qam:: The final constellation plot shows the recovered QAM
symbols after carrier synchronization. The four clusters corresponding to 4QAM are clearly visible and
tightly grouped, reflecting successful phase and frequency recovery. This confirms that the Costas
loop effectively mitigated carrier offset and phase noise.
• RMS EVM: 8.77%
• Average MER: 21.14 dB
• BER: 39%
These measurements validate the quality of the demodulated signal. An RMS EVM below 10%
indicates that most received points lie close to their ideal constellation positions, signifying low
distortion and minimal synchronization errors. The high average MER demonstrates strong
modulation fidelity and high signal to noise performance in the baseband.

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5.2 BPSK Constellation Diagrams:

Figure 30 After symbole Syncronizer BPSK

Figure 31 After Rasied Cosine Rx Filter BPSK

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Figure 32 After raised cosine Transimiter filter BPSK

Figure 33 After Carier synchronization BPSK

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The system was tested using BPSK modulation to evaluate its ability to handle simpler binary
signaling under the same wired transmission conditions. The setup included all standard blocks audio
framing, pulse shaping, and real time transmission via ADALM-Pluto SDRs while the receiver chain
focused on synchronization, filtering, and symbol recovery.
Figure 30:AfterSymbolSynchronizer BPSK
This constellation shows the BPSK symbols following symbol timing recovery. Although some linear
clustering appears, the symbols are still scattered and misaligned. The system has attempted to
identify symbol boundaries, but residual carrier phase offset prevents the symbols from fully aligning
along the expected axis.
Figure 31:AfterRaisedCosineRXFilter BPSK
The matched filtering process refines the constellation somewhat, but the separation of the two BPSK
points remains unclear. Despite reduced noise and intersymbol interference, filtering alone is
insufficient to correct carrier frequency and phase errors without proper loop convergence.
Spectral Analysis:
Figure 32:AfterRaisedCosineTransmitterFilter BPSK
This plot shows the power spectral density of the transmitted BPSK signal after pulse shaping. The
filtered waveform is well contained within the 200 kHz bandwidth, indicating that the root raised cosine
filter is effectively limiting the spectral spread. Compared to QAM, the BPSK signal demonstrates
even cleaner spectral shaping due to fewer symbol transitions.
Figure 33: After Carrier Synchronization BPSK
The constellation diagram taken after carrier synchronization shows two tightly clustered points along
the real axis, as expected for Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK). This indicates that carrier phase
recovery and symbol synchronization were successful, with minimal distortion or phase error.
Performance metrics further confirm the system’s reliability:
• RMS EVM: 8.09%
• Average MER: 21.84 dB
• BER:43%
An RMS Error Vector Magnitude of 8.09% suggests a low deviation from ideal symbol locations, and
an MER exceeding 20 dB confirms strong signal quality and accurate demodulation. These values are
well within acceptable limits for BPSK, reflecting effective synchronization and a favorable signal to
noise ratio.
The spectrum plot shows the signal before and after the Raised Cosine receive filter. The filtered
output (yellow) demonstrates successful bandwidth limitation and suppression of out of band
components, while retaining the desired signal shape.
Unlike previous poor performing runs, this implementation of BPSK exhibits excellent performance
due to proper carrier loop tuning and adequate signal energy highlighting BPSK’s robustness when
synchronization is correctly implemented.

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5.3 QPSK Constellation Diagrams:

Figure 34 After cosine RX filter QPSK

Figure 35 After Symbole Syncronization QPSK

• .

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Figure 36 After Rasied Cosine Rx Filter QPSK

Figure 37 After Carrier Syncronization QPSK

The system was also tested with QPSK modulation to see its suitability for real time digital audio
transmission in wire bound controlled environments. QPSK is a two bit per symbol representation that
is functionally equivalent to 4-QAM and hence a viable choice for moderate data rates with good
resistance to noise. The receiver chain contained all the necessary signal processing components:
filtering, synchronization, and carrier recovery required for quality reception.

Constellation and Synchronization Results:

Figure 34: After Cosine RX Filter QPSK

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The constellation after the first root raised cosine filter shows an early appearance of four clusters of
symbols. Even though the constellation is quite dispersed, this is an indication that intersymbol
interference (ISI) has been effectively minimized and the signal is now ready for symbol timing
recovery. Bandwidth limitation and reduction of pulse overlap are done by the filtering process.
Figure 35: After Symbol Synchronization QPSK
This constellation plot indicates the QPSK constellation after symbol timing recovery. The symbols
are more symmetrically placed around the origin and begin to settle at the expected quadrature
points. The Gardner timing recovery algorithm aligns the sampling times with the centers of the
symbols, substantially improving demodulation accuracy.
Spectral Analysis:
Figure 36: After Raised Cosine RX Filter QPSK
The power spectral density (PSD) plot indicates that the signal remains well contained within the ~200
kHz bandwidth. There is minimal spectral leakage, which verifies the matched filter performance. The
raised cosine filter gives clean spectral shaping, an important requirement for efficient SDR system
operation and adjacent channel interference avoidance.
Carrier Synchronization and EVM Analysis:
Figure 37: After Carrier Synchronization QPSK
After the application of the Costas loop for carrier frequency and phase correction, the QPSK
constellation consists of four well resolvable, tightly bunched points. Symbol cluster convergence
proves proper carrier synchronization and confirms that phase and frequency offsets introduced in the
channel were properly countered.
• RMS EVM: 9.23%
• Average MER: 20.70 dB
• BER:9.6%
These measurements confirm good fidelity of the signal at the receiver. An RMS EVM of 9.23%
means good proximity of received symbols to ideal constellation points, and an MER of 20.70 dB
certifies a good signal to noise ratio and modulational clarity. All these measurements together
confirm that QPSK provided reliable performance with negligible error rates.

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6 RESULTS AND DISCCUION

This section compared the simulation results with actual hardware testing results by utilizing the
ADALM-Pluto SDR for BPSK, QPSK, and 4QAM modulation techniques. The performance metrics of
utmost significance such as Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), Modulation Error Ratio (MER), and Bit
Error Rate (BER) were analyzed to gauge the trustworthiness and merit of signal transmission. Of
these, BER was the most significant measure to analyze the usability of the system in real world.
BPSK exhibited good performance during simulation, with perfect constellation alignment, zero EVM
at 5%, peak MER at 26 dB, and comparatively low BER of 5% reflecting negligible synchronization
errors. However, in real-world test runs, although with acceptable EVM (8.09%) and MER (21.84 dB),
BER jumped precipitously to 43%. This sharp decline in performance was contributed mainly by
hardware-oriented synchronization limitations such as residual carrier offset and erroneous loop
convergence. Even though theoretically the most tolerant of noise and distortion, BPSK's very high
BER under real-world conditions made it less reliable without advanced synchronization and carrier
tracking techniques.
QPSK offered equally matched performance. In simulation, it was slightly worse than BPSK,
measuring 7.85% EVM, 21.1 dB MER, and 18% BER. However, in practice testing, after optimizing
the receiver synchronization—most significantly the Costas loop for carrier recovery—the BER
dropped dramatically to 9.6%. This combined with tightly spaced constellation points confirmed that
QPSK handled real-world distortions much better than BPSK, thus being the most reliable modulation
method employed in this implementation.
4QAM, being mathematically equivalent to QPSK, produced the same simulation results with an EVM
of 5.19%, MER of 25.69 dB, and a BER of 15%. But in practical testing, it produced a larger BER of
39% and an EVM of 8.77%, which confirmed larger symbol dispersion and larger sensitivity to timing
and phase errors. Although the constellation appeared structurally correct following synchronization,
the denser modulation was more prone to hardware setup imperfections.

Summary:
With all the modulation schemes tested, simulated results consistently produced ideal or near-ideal
conditions with low EVM, high MER, and comparatively low BER. In practical real-life implementation
with the ADALM-Pluto SDR, extreme deviations were observed particularly in BER due to hardware
imperfections and synchronization problems. Theoretically most resilient BPSK proved most
vulnerable to real-life distortions. QPSK was the most balanced and uniform scheme after
optimization of synchronization, and 4QAM was more hardware-impaired sensitive and structurally
nearer to QPSK. All these conclusions assert the relevance of testing in practice and verify Bit Error
Rate remains the sole most critical measure when evaluating general communication system
performance.

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7 Conclousion
The project successfully demonstrates the applicability of ADALM-Pluto Software Defined Radios
(SDRs) in developing a unidirectional wired audio communication system. We exploited the
capabilities of MATLAB and Simulink and developed the whole digital baseband transmission and
reception chain which successfully transmitted the audio signals using a 10 cm coaxial cable and
different modulation techniques.The algorithmic chain consisted of digitization of analog audio to
digital amplitude vectors, Barker coded preamble framing, Reed Solomon error detection and
correction, and signal modulating with BPSK, QPSK, or 4QAM. The signal was transmitted in real
time via PlutoSDR hardware, and the receiver chain involved matched filtering, frame detection,
demodulation, and audio reconstruction. All the blocks were verified with simulation output,
constellation plots, power spectral analysis, and quality metrics such as Error Vector Magnitude
(EVM), Modulation Error Ratio (MER), and Bit Error Rate (BER).

While BPSK performed spectacularly in simulation ideal symbol alignment, low EVM, and high MER
its performance in the real world crashed as a result of synchronization problems, primarily producing
an extremely high BER. On the other hand, QPSK, while more sensitive to channel errors, was the
best-balanced scheme in real-world testing after synchronizing the synchronization chain, with
minimal BER and constant constellation alignment. 4QAM, while theoretically identical to QPSK, did
slightly worse in real-world testing due to higher symbol density and sensitivity to residual phase and
timing errors. Moreover, the implementation of matched root raised cosine filters at both ends of
transmission and reception significantly reduced inter-symbol interference (ISI) while ensuring
spectral efficiency. The improvement noticed in constellation clarity between the receiver stages also
testified to the significance of pulse shaping and filtering in SDR systems. In summary, the system
sets up a paradigm of adaptive, SDR-based digital communication. It clearly proves the feasibility of
transmitting high-fidelity, low-latency audio via reconfigurable software-defined hardware in wire-lined
environments. Nonetheless, it also emphasizes that the most crucial figure of merit in performance is
BER, and experimentations must be conducted in actual environments to substantiate theoretical
prediction.

Future Work
1. In order to generalize and scale the system, the improvements listed below are proposed:
2. Live microphone input and real-time audio streaming to support dynamic data input.
3. Channel-adaptive modulation and coding to optimize performance as a function of channel
quality.
4. Improved synchronization loops with adaptive bandwidth control for enhanced phase tracking
and convergence.
5. Building of a graphical user interface (GUI) to support real-time system monitoring and
control.

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6. Extension to wireless environments to test performance under varying range, mobility, and
interference.
These additions would not just enhance the efficiency of the system but also its application in practical
settings in education, testing, and communication system design.

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REFERENCES
[1] M. Rice, Digital Communications: A Discrete-Time Approach, 1st ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson, 2013.

[2] J. G. Proakis and M. Salehi, Digital Communications, 5th ed. New York, NY,
USA: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

[3] MathWorks, “QPSK Receiver Using ADALM-PLUTO Radio,” MathWorks

Documentation, 2023. [Online]. Available:
https://www.mathworks.com/help/comm/examples/qpsk-receiver-using-adalm-pluto-
radio.html

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