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NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
GNU radio aims to improve accessibility and usability
NU Radio, a free and open-source software development The improvements were chosen because, while they were
toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to under development already, progress on them has been
Gimplement software radios, has embarked on a project hindered by lack of specialised expertise. This grant from ARDC
to make the software more accessible to everyone, regardless of will allow GNU Radio to hire developers with the expertise
which operating system they use and how much experience they needed to push these developments forward. For example,
have with wireless communications and digital signal processing. hiring a usability expert will give GNU Radio Companion, the
GNU Radio is a free and open-source software development project’s graphical user interface (GUI), a much-improved user
toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement experience.
software radios. It can be used with readily-available low-cost For each improvement project, one or more mentors (who
external RF hardware to create software-defined radios, or will be volunteers from the GNU Radio leadership or core
without hardware in a simulation-like environment. It is widely developers) will guide the work. These mentors will help the
used in research, industry, academia, government, and hobbyist contractors stay aligned to project goals and offer feedback at
environments to support both wireless communications research periodic intervals.
and real-world radio systems. GNU Radio is a free and open-source software development
GNU Radio developers have identified several improvements toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement
that will make the software more accessible and easier to software radios. It can be used with readily-available low-cost
maintain. external RF hardware to create software-defined radios, or
without hardware in a simulation-like environment. It is widely
These improvements include: used in research, industry, academia, government and hobbyist
• Easier installation of GNU Radio on Windows and MacOS environments, to support both wireless communications
computers, research and real-world radio systems.
• Easier installation of out-of-tree modules (OOTs),
• Better documentation to make GNU Radio easier to use, and To learn more about GNU Radio, please visit
• Usability features for GNU Radio Companion (GRC). https://www.gnuradio.org/
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