LimeSDR XTRX is high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) board in a compact Mini PCIe form factor. With an AMD (formerly Xilinx) Artix-7 XC7A50T-2CPG236I FPGA and a Lime Microsystems LMS7002M RF transceiver at it’s core, LimeSDR XTRX is a perfect platform for developing logic-intensive digital and RF designs.

LimeSDR XTRX is a suitable building block for MIMO configurations from 2Tx2R to 32Tx32R. It can be used in conjunction with digital processors (ASICs, GPPs and GPUs) of varying speed, power dissipation, and cost to fit any air interface, whether narrowband or broadband. The board is designed for the following key feataures:

• Frequency and Bandwidth: The heart of the board is the Lime transceiver RFIC (LMS7002), covering frequencies up to 3.8 GHz with a bandwidth of over 100 MHz.
• Baseband Interface: A significant level of digital circuitry resides within the LMS7002 and accompanying FPGA for the implementation of key physical layer radio functions, including filtering, decimation, interpolation, and flexible interfaces such as PCIe and SerDes.

Open Source

LimeSDR XTRX is based on the Fairwaves XTRX Rev 5, with many many refinements and updates. We will review all the changes in a future update. One of the biggest changes is that we have open sourced the design files and documentation, so you can start exploring LimeSDR XTRX for yourself: https://github.com/myriadrf/LimeSDR-XTRX

Compatibility & Support

As a full-fledged member of the LimeSDR family, LimeSDR XTRX will be supported by the Lime Suite driver stack and the gr-limesdr plugin for GNU Radio. Hence, any existing LimeSDR-family application should just need to be rebuilt against the latest versions of these libraries to work on LimeSDR XTRX. In addition, the existing Fairwaves gateware and driver will still be available to help with the transition from XTRX to LimeSDR XTRX, but they won’t be actively maintained.

Another outcome of XTRX joining the LimeSDR family is that support will be provided via MyriadRF and its active and moderated community forums.

Block Diagram

Features & Specifications

• RF transceiver: Lime Microsystems LMS7002M
  • Configuration: MIMO (2xTX, 2xRX)
  • Frequency range: 30 MHz – 3.8 GHz
  • Bandwidth: 30.72 MHz
  • Sample depth: 12 bit
  • Sample rate: 30.72 MSPS
  • Transmit power: max 10 dBm (depending on frequency)
• FPGA: AMD Artix-7 XC7A50T-2CPG236I
  • 236-pin CSBGA package (10mm x 10mm, 0.5mm)
  • 52160 LUTs logic capacity
  • 2700 Kb Embedded Memory
  • 600 Kb distributed RAM
  • 120x 18x18-bit multipliers
  • 5 x PLL
  • 4 x DLL
  • 106 x IO
  • FPGA configuration via JTAG
• USB 2.0 controller: Microchip USB3333E-GL
• EEPROM Memory:
  • 128 Kb EEPROM for LMS MCU firmware (optional)
  • 128 Kb EEPROM for FPGA data (optional)
• FLASH Memory: 256 Mb Flash memory for FPGA configuration
• Temperature sensor: TMP1075NDRLR
• General user inputs/outputs:
  • 2 x green LEDs
  • 4 x GPIO 3.3V in GPIO connector
  • 1 x GPIO in baseband connectors
• Connectors:
  • USB 2.0 (Micro-B) socket
  • Coaxial RF (U.FL female) connectors
  • FPGA GPIO 8-pin FPC connector
  • FPGA JTAG connector (unpopulated)
  • Mini PCIe edge connector
  • RF baseband 15-pin FPC connectors
• Clock system:
  • 26.00 MHz (or 30.72 MHz) onboard VCTCXO
  • VCTCXO may be tuned by onboard DAC
  • Reference clock input and output connector (U.FL)
• Dimensions: 50.8mm x 20.97mm (Mini PCIe form factor)
• Power sources:
  • USB connector (5 V)
  • Mini PCIe (3.3 V)

Board Overview

LimeSDR XTRX overview (top)

LimeSDR XTRX overview (bottom)

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