Welcome to uSDR, OreSat at Teardown 2023, QSPICE Release, and More

Help us welcome uSDR, the latest addition to the Qorvo RF Accelerator. We also have updates from OreSat, Oregon’s first cubesat. Plus, a power management components highlight, and exciting news about new, free circuit simulation software.

Welcome uSDR

We are excited to welcome uSDR to the Qorvo RF Accelerator. uSDR is an embedded software-defined radio (SDR) board that is optimized for ease of use and remote collaboration. It incorporates WebUSB technology, which enables full functionality in the Chrome browser — under Linux, Windows, MacOS, and Android — without requiring specific drivers or software.

The uSDR project uses the following Qorvo components on their frontend development board:

QPL9547TR7 - 0.1 to 6 GHz ultra low-noise amplifier
QPC3223SR - two-bit digital attenuator in the automatic gain control (AGC) loop
RFSW6042 - four-port RF switch in the harmonic reduction filter bank
RFSW6062 - six-port RF switch in the cellular bands multiplexer

From the uSDR team:

Having a flexible frontend is crucial for software-defined radio. Many radio standards have strict requirements for out-of-band emissions. We designed a very simple and inexpensive radio frontend to accompany uSDR. Qorvo RF switches provide the best performance-to-board-space ratio for keeping production costs down.

A wonderful demo on uSDR with different types of adapters and applications was presented at Teardown 2023.

OreSat at Teardown 2023

Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) staffed a demo table at Teardown 2023, where, among other things, they showcased the OreSat cubesat and the OreSat ground station, which is part of the Qorvo RF Accelerator.

They also gave an in-depth talk on OreSat and recent progress on the project.

Power Management

In addition to a large RF component selection, Qorvo also has a broad power management product line. The Jupiter Nano project features the Qorvo ACT8945A with integrated LiPo battery charging capability.

QSPICE

Qorvo has released a new tool, QSPICE, for analog and mixed signal simulation. This free, easy to use tool offers significantly better SPICE basics, supports vast amounts of digital logic without performance penalties, and provides the speed and accuracy required for reliable power-based simulation. Learn more about QSPICE and watch their demo videos below!