Marc Lichtman will host the Hack Chat on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at noon Pacific Time.
Time zones got you down? Here's a handy time converter!
"Revolution" is a term thrown about with a lot less care than it probably should be, especially in fields like electronics. It's understandable, though -- the changes to society that have resulted from the "Transistor Revolution" or the "PC Revolution" or more recently, the "AI Revolution" have been transformative, often for good and sometimes for ill. The common thread, though, is that once these revolutions came about, nothing was ever the same afterward.
Such is the case with software-defined radio (SDR) and digital signal processing (DSP). These two related fields may not seem as transformative as some of the other electronic revolutions, but when you think about it, they really have transformed the world of radio communications. SDR means that complex radio transmitters and receivers, no longer have to be implemented strictly in hardware as a collection of filters, mixers, detectors, and amplifiers; instead, they can be reduced to a series of algorithms running on a computer.
Teamed with DSP, SDR has resulted in massive shifts in the RF field, with powerful, high-bandwidth radio links being built into devices almost as an afterthought. But the concepts can be difficult to wrap one's head around, at least when digging beyond the basics and really trying to learn how SDR and DSP work. Thankfully, Dr. Marc Lichtman, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, literally wrote the book on the subject. "PySDR: A Guide to SDR and DSP using Python" is a fantastic introduction to SDR and DSP that's geared toward those looking to learn how to put SDR and DSP to work in practical systems. Dr. Lichtman will stop by the Hack Chat to talk about his textbook, to answer your questions on how best to learn about SDR and DSP, and to discuss what the next steps are once you conquer the basics.
Banner image credit: Dsimic, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
OK, that was a jam-packed hour! Gonna be a chore to get this transcript posted, that's for sure. But that's a good problem to have. I want to thank Marc for being here today and for this informative and fun Hack Chat. I really appreciate the time today, Marc, thanks so much. And to everyone who attended, same to you -- you made this a great Hack Chat! Feel free to keep the chat going, of course - the Hack CHat is always here for you!
