Pluto

Overview

The ADALM‑PLUTO, commonly known as the Pluto SDR, is a portable, self‑contained software‑defined radio (SDR). It is designed primarily as an educational platform for students, hobbyists, and engineers to explore radio frequency (RF) concepts, wireless communication, and SDR fundamentals in a hands‑on environment. PlutoSDR acts as a personal RF lab that easily fits into a pocket and connects to a computer over USB. It supports a wide range of software environments including MATLAB, GNU Radio, C/C++/C#, Python, and SDRangel.

Key Features and Specs

• Hardware: Based on the AD9363 RF Transceiver and the Xilinx Zynq Z-7010 FPGA

• RF Coverage: 325 MHz to 3.8 GHz (guaranteed), 70MHz to 6 GHz (firmware modification)

• Instantaneous Bandwidth: 20 MHz (guaranteed), 56 MHz (firmware modification)

• Channels: 1 Transmit (DAC) and 1 Receive (ADC). Upgradeable to 2 transmit and 2 receive channels.

• Platforms: Compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS

• Full Duplex Operation (can simultaneously send and receive)

Complete documentation, user manuals, and examples for the Pluto are found here: https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/documentation/tools/pluto/index.html

The below guide is meant to highlight important aspects of Pluto and guide the user through a couple of complete system level examples.

Table of Contents

• Hardware Introduction
• Unboxing and Getting Started
  • Install the Drivers
  • Unbox and Test Pluto
  • Update the Firmware
• Additional Setup Tips
  • Connecting to Pluto
  • Expand the Frequency and RF Ports
  • ESD Diode Issue
  • Direct LIBIIO Access
• Simple Programming
  • Python Programming
  • MATLAB Programming
  • GNU Radio
  • QIQ Software
  • C Programming
  • BASH USB OTG Scripts
• System Examples (Pilots)
  • Beamforming

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This video is a quick introduction to the Pluto platform along with some simple examples:

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnCi-LHJ0GQ

Note

For questions or help with the Pluto SDR, please visit: EngineerZone