Since Labview will be one of our primary tools for building and evaluating DSP systems in the lab, we need to become proficient at using and programming it. In this exercise we will look at some basic structures or shells for building VIs that involve analog input and output. We will use these to build a few simple applications, then use those applications to illustrate some of the consequences of trying to implement radio architectures digitally.
In particular we will begin to examine the consequences of aliasing when we attempt to process radio frequency (RF) signals with A/D converters having maximum sampling rates considerably lower than the frequency of the signal of interest. Adopting a temporary, limited solution to this problem, we will look at some of the computer-based, digital instrumentation we can use to examine our signals, mirroring what we did in the previous exercise with analog instruments. We will also try to use Labview processing components to construct a simple radio transmitter and receiver using few (or no) additional, analog components.