SDRDriverBase

class SDRDriverBase

Bases: ABC

Contract every vendor SDR driver implements.

Abstract methods cover what every radio can do: open, tune, set a rate, and return samples. The rest raise NotImplementedError by default, and a driver overrides only those its hardware supports. A driver owns its own transport and holds no reference back to InstroSDR.

Configuration methods take keyword-only direction and channel, defaulting to the first receive path. Acquisition (read_iq, fetch_iq, get_backlog) is receive-only.

Example

A receive-only, single-channel driver over a vendor SDK:

class MyVendorSDR(SDRDriverBase):
    def __init__(self, device_index: int = 0):
        self._device_index = device_index
        self._device = None

    def open(self) -> None:
        from vendor_sdk import Radio  # keeps the SDK optional at import time

        self._device = Radio(self._device_index)

    def close(self) -> None:
        self._device.close()

    def set_center_freq(self, frequency_hz, *, direction=Direction.RX, channel="0"):
        self._device.center_freq = frequency_hz

    ...  # get_center_freq, set_sample_rate, get_sample_rate

    def read_iq(self, n_samples, *, channels=("0",)) -> IQCapture:
        samples = np.asarray(self._device.read_samples(n_samples), dtype=np.complex128)
        return IQCapture(
            samples=samples.reshape(1, -1),
            sample_period_ns=1e9 / self._device.sample_rate,
            channels=("0",),
            center_freq_hz=(self._device.center_freq,),
        )

Methods

close	Close the underlying transport or SDR handle.
fetch_iq	Return the next contiguous block from the receive stream, blocking until it is available.
get_antenna	Return the selected antenna port.
get_backlog	Return how many samples are waiting to be fetched from the receive stream.
get_bandwidth	Return the IF or filter bandwidth.
get_center_freq	Return the RF center frequency the radio is tuned to.
get_freq_correction	Return the reference oscillator correction.
get_frequency_range	Return the lowest and highest tunable center frequency.
get_gain	Return the overall gain.
get_gain_mode	Report whether automatic gain control is in control.
get_gain_range	Return the lowest and highest settable gain.
get_num_channels	Return the number of signal paths in a direction.
get_sample_rate	Return the IQ sample rate the radio accepted.
get_sample_rate_range	Return the lowest and highest settable sample rate.
list_antennas	List the selectable antenna ports.
open	Open the underlying transport or SDR handle.
read_iq	Read one time-aligned receive block, with the timebase it was taken on.
set_antenna	Select an antenna port.
set_bandwidth	Set the IF or filter bandwidth.
set_center_freq	Tune the RF center frequency.
set_freq_correction	Correct the reference oscillator's frequency error.
set_gain	Set the overall gain.
set_gain_mode	Hand gain to the radio's automatic gain control, or take manual control.
set_sample_rate	Set the IQ sample rate.
start	Begin continuous acquisition.
stop	End a direction's stream and release its buffers.