Design and implementation of a raspberry pi based spectrum monitoring system.

Abstract

The radio spectrum is a critical resource for a wide range of applications, including communication, navigation, remote sensing, military, and scientific research. Its importance continues to grow as new technologies and applications emerge. While radio spectrum allocation is well regulated, there is little knowledge about its actual utilization. This limitation hinders taking effective actions in various applications such as law enforcement where bands are allocated and regulated. Our project presents a Spectrum Monitoring System that implements the spectrum sensing operation based on a Software Defined Radio (SDR) and a Raspberry Pi. The system captures radio signals in the environment and processes them to produce a real-time graphical representation of the spectrum that is visualized on a web application. The system was developed by setting up a Raspberry pi to communicate with the rtl-sdr dongle through a python flask application that processes the signal samples at specific frequencies to create a spectrum and waterfall plot. An API retrieves this data to display on an HTML web interface. The Spectrum Monitoring System is relatively portable as it is handheld and also less costly compared to the RF Explorer analyzer which was the reference for this project. The system’s ability to visualize the spectrum provides valuable insights into the usage of the radio spectrum, enabling users to optimize their wireless communication systems and avoid interference. The system can also help users identify unused frequencies, allowing for efficient use of the spectrum. This achieved through interactive options such as panning, zooming, reset amongst others.