Narrowband Power Spectral Density Estimation Using a 40 MHz Channel Sounder on SDR Platform for UAV Applications

In this paper, we present a narrowband power spectral density (PSD) estimation technique using a 40 MHz bandwidth channel sounder based on a lightweight and portable software-defined radio (SDR) platform. This setup is intended for the characterization of communication channels in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A post-processing step using a finite impulse response (FIR) digital filter is compared with laboratory setups to verify its calibration. Tests were performed with a 1 MHz signal on carriers at 850 MHz and 3.5 GHz. In addition, the challenges of transmitting, receiving, and storing samples at a rate of 40 MS/s are discussed.