Incorporating PlutoSDR in the Communication Laboratory and Classroom: Potential or Pitfall?

The reduced expense and growing capability of student owned equipment is fostering the open laboratory paradigm and revolutionizing the curriculum of many undergraduate analog and digital communications courses in electrical engineering. Among other possibilities, student owned portable equipment facilitates hands-on experiential learning and provides the opportunity to flip the laboratory to increase student engagement. Up until now, this trend has had reduced impact in analog and digital communications because the most capable equipment, such as the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) was too expensive or inexpensive equipment, such as the ubiquitous RTL Software Defined Radio (RTL SDR) dongle, lacked the necessary features for full transceiver implementation. Currently retailing for $99 (academic price), the Analog Devices Active Learning Module-Pluto Software Defined Radio (or PlutoSDR) appears to have the potential to bridge the gap between these two extremes. Here we will explore potential opportunities, benefits, and pitfalls to be avoided, of incorporating the PlutoSDR in the classroom and open laboratory environments. We begin by reviewing the hardware capability, limitations and setup requirements of the PlutoSDR. Next, example communication laboratories and demonstrations using PlutoSDR and GNU Radio and MATLAB/Simulink will be described. Finally, two semesters of student observations/comments on incorporating PlutoSDR into the student experience from Temple University are presented.