Within radio frequency (RF) spectrum research, field experimentation is critical. It enables researchers to collect data anywhere, from big cities to remote areas, so they can ensure their research and findings fairly represent real-world conditions. However, it can be difficult to collect data in distant or isolated environments when traditional high-performance signal collecting methods require large, bulky equipment that may be difficult to transport.
At SpectrumX, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Spectrum Innovation Center, research partners and students have been hard at work developing a Mobile Experiment Platform (MEP) that aims to resolve this common field work barrier.
Designed to support the Center’s Flagship Project 1, which focuses on developing tools, infrastructure, and capabilities for conducting spectrum coexistence research, the MEP is portable equipment that enables both the reception and transmission of RF signals for radio spectrum monitoring, active signal propagation observation, and coexistence experimentation. It is intended to be an open-source, adaptable platform that enables researchers to conduct a wide variety of radio frequency spectrum experiments in the field.
In addition to creating an accessible, modular device, NSF SpectrumX researchers also focused on ensuring the MEP could deliver reliable results for many years to come.
The overarching goal of the MEP project was “to build a high-quality radio-frequency collection device, but also to create a sensing platform to enable long-term, repeatable collection methods for researchers,” said Randy Herban, NSF SpectrumX member and Software Communications Engineer at the University of Notre Dame.
To ensure its portability, the MEP was designed in a Pelican case, a highly durable and impact-resistant storage case, with wheels and handles on three sides. While the exact weight varies depending on the internal components, MEPs typically weigh around 50 pounds, making moving these units a manageable task for most researchers.
Although the MEP features ports for digital and radio frequency (RF) connections, power inputs, and thermal exits on the bottom, these are recessed within the case so that it can lie flat when placed on a level surface. A metal plate can be screwed in place over the bottom to prevent damage during travel, and legs can be attached to allow for passive airflow underneath the case while the equipment is in use for cooling purposes.
Additionally, the MEP and all external components, including ports on the bottom of the box, are weatherproofed using gaskets, silicone, and neoprene tape. This will allow researchers to set up the MEP in the field and leave it unattended to collect data without concerns about inclement weather, which will ultimately allow for longer periods of data collection in remote areas.
The internal components of the MEP are mounted on three modular plates and a DIN rail, a metal rail routinely used in mounting electrical equipment, which enables researchers to swap out existing equipment depending on the nature of their experiments. This will also allow the NSF SpectrumX team to update the MEP components as the design’s development advances.
Within the current iteration of the MEP, researchers can connect external antennas to the device to either receive or transmit signals. From there, tuners and analog front-end boards filter and amplify these analog signals. A radio converts the signals for further processing by a Jetson computer, which enables received signals to be viewed and analyzed and generates outgoing data for signal transmission. A computer monitor or laptop can be plugged into the Jetson so researchers can view the data directly or transfer it for external processing. The MEP can be plugged into a power source, or an off-the-shelf camera battery and a solar charger can power the equipment if no external power source is available.
“At the heart of the MEP is the AMD RFSoC FPGA [Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Radio Frequency System-on-Chip field-programmable gate array] component, which runs custom firmware to provide the platform with a highly flexible software-defined radio,” said Nicholas Rainville, SpectrumX member and Research Associate at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research. “When combined with the AI/ML processing capabilities of the NVIDIA Jetson, the MEP offers a unique platform for RF data collection, processing, and experimentation,” he said, underlining the distinctive nature of this equipment.
Impressively, especially considering the MEP’s unique design and capabilities, SpectrumX researchers were able to mature this technology from concept to functional field equipment within a relatively short time period, enabling Center members at all stages of their careers to get important hands-on research experience along the way.
SpectrumX student researchers first attended a workshop in November 2024 at MIT Haystack where they helped assemble the hardware in the Center’s 12 MEPs. After additional testing and updates, overseen by Frank Lind, Research Working Group Deputy Director and Flagship Project 1 Lead, select MEPs were sent out to the University of Notre Dame and the University of Colorado Boulder in April for firmware and software development.
The team then completed additional updates throughout June 2025. In July, SpectrumX used the MEPs to run a fieldwork experiment in rural New Mexico. During this experiment, students, faculty, and staff researchers worked together to conduct a passive radio frequency interference (RFI) band study and actively emulated 6G signals in the 7-8.5 GHz band.
With this success, the SpectrumX team looks forward to continuing to improve and mature this platform to make RF field research, as well as a wider pool of collected data, more accessible to all spectrum researchers.
SpectrumX researchers plan to make the MEP designs available via the Center’s Github so that even more researchers can benefit from this technology. Additional updates on MEP development and workshops that explore how the capabilities of the MEP can accelerate spectrum sensing research are forthcoming and will be available on the SpectrumX website and LinkedIn pages.
About SpectrumX
SpectrumX is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of its Spectrum Innovation Initiative, under grant number AST 21-32700. SpectrumX is the world’s largest academic hub where all radio spectrum stakeholders can innovate, collaborate, and contribute to maximizing social welfare of this precious resource.
To learn more about SpectrumX, please visit spectrumx.org.
Contact:
Stephanie Loney, Research Communications Specialist
NSF SpectrumX / Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame
sloney@nd.edu / 574.631.7804
spectrumx.org
