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Resources
Datasheets
Epiq - datasheet - Matchstiq™ G20 & G40
The Matchstiq™ G20 and G40 are highly flexible RF and signal processing SDR platforms, ready to enable applications with the most challenging SWaP-C requirements. Both the Matchstiq™ G20 and G40 have Epiq's flagship SDR, Sidekiq™ NV100, as a fundamental component. The Matchstiq™ G20 incorporates a single Sidekiq™ NV100, a 2TB SSD, and an Nvidia Orin NX, enabling direct RF record, analysis, and playback. The Matchstiq™ G40 integrates the Orin NX with two Sidekiq's (both NV100), enabling phase-coherent operation across four RF channels, ideal for beamforming applications or independent operation for multi-band applications.
Application notes
DeepSIG - Product Overview
Epiq is well known for providing the smallest, high performance software defined radios (SDRs) available, with wide deployment in difficult RF environments. Epiq SDRs marry extremely well with processing engines such as those provided by DeepSig, which utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to enable new levels of signal identification and direction finding capabilities.
DeepSIG DSP vs AI
For as long as adversaries have been using the radio frequency spectrum for communications, there has been a desire by the other side to use them for intelligence gathering. Signal acquisition and processing is evolving rapidly with the advent of ever more powerful edge processing and artificial intelligence (AI). This brief overview compares the latest approaches from Epiq and DeepSig to the conventional approaches they are replacing.
DeepSIG Training & Deployment
One key challenge highlighted by recent global events is the need for rapid adaptability in theater. With signals intelligence (SIGINT) continuing to play a crucial role in most conflicts, adaptability is crucial here, too. Unfortunately identifying new signals and updating platforms accordingly has been painfully slow. This is finally changing with the latest innovations in AI-enabled applications from DeepSig.
DeepSIG Trends
More data has to be better, surely? Modern militaries live and die by the RF signals that they use. Digital radios used in defense are huge beneficiaries of the technology investments being made in civilian 5G wireless, a considerably bigger user of such devices. This is making semiconductor parts available that have digital modulation bandwidths, resolutions and numbers of channels that vastly increase spectrum visibility. This exponential growth in the creation of digitized data is outpacing the ability of processing devices to do anything with the data. Figure 1 illustrates how manpower to analyze data is not scaling at the same rate as the quantity of data, creating a big gap. To add to the pressure, adversary signals are also growing in numbers and complexity.
Squeezing the Balloon: Effective SDR Power Budgeting to Maximize UxS Range & Cap
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) are the Swiss army knives of spectrum battlefield situational awareness. Their uses range from satellite communications (SATCOM) and signals intelligence (SIGINT), to direction finding (DF), radar, jamming and many more besides. Even small drones are upgrading capabilities from only visible spectrum cameras to much more advanced capabilities using SDRs.
UAS Trends
Recent conflicts have accelerated trends that were already underway in the Unmanned Aerial System(UAS) market. Figure 1 shows a variety of different attributes that illustrate changes in the military market. The first three relate to differences over time worldwide, with an increasing number of countries able to deploy drones, a predicted 40% increase in spending, and a rapidly growing number of patents being issued as interest in this sector is reflected in innovation (graphs a through c).
UxS Challenges, EPIQ Solutions
Expectations on UxS suppliers to innovate and evolve their platforms quickly, and to ramp to volume faster are getting higher and higher. The addition of spectral monitoring to even small platforms dramatically increases situational awareness, enabled by small and flexible Software Defined Radios (SDRs). For design teams, a frequent issue is the ‘make vs. buy’ decision for the SDR, and whether the project can afford the time or engineering bandwidth to make every piece in-house. As a leading supplier of Small Form Factor (SFF) and open architecture SDRs, Epiq obviously has strong opinions on this topic
UxS Payload Form Factors
Unmanned systems (UxS) come in many shapes and sizes, whether airborne, in the water, or land-based. Most count as SWaP-constrained systems, with care needed in design to properly budget for power, weight and available payload volumes. Other notes in this series have discussed the challenges of power budgeting for SDRs, and RF architectures that optimize SWaP. We often have less choice in the form factors we need to fit into, as these are usually set by the larger system, and the customer question will be “I have this form factor, what can you do in it?”.
Which RF Architecture Should I Choose
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) have become ubiquitous in applications that value their flexibility, reconfigurability, spectrum agility and upgradability. These include defense, public safety, wireless infrastructure, space, SATCOM, test and measurement to name a few. However, there are several common methods of implementing SDR architectures – how do you know which is best to meet a specific need?
Considerations in the Build vs Buy Decision-Making Process for SDRs
The flexibility and enhanced performance offered by software-defined radios (SDRs) in RF transceiver applications is driving an increased demand for their use across many industries such as defense, telecom, aerospace, and government.
Case studies
Open-source repositories
Blog
Is it Possible to Have Full ML-Driven Signal Classification & DF Entirely at the RF Edge?
A trial copy of DeepSig’s OmniSIG ships with every G20/G40 and X40.
Software Defined Radios – Which RF Architecture Should I Choose?
Choosing the right RF architecture is critical for SDR performance. From Superheterodyne to Direct Sampling, each offers unique trade-offs in size, power, and capability. Discover which architecture best fits your mission needs—register now to access the full article.