Acronym Definitions

This page provides a list of acronyms which you may encounter in Software Defined Radio projects. The list was initiated by Alan, W6ARH in collaboration with Ron, KU7Y.

Acronym	Definition
ADC	Analog to Digital Converter
APRS	Automatic Packet Reporting System
ATiny45	Microcontroller/microprocessor
ATiny85	Microcontroller/microprocessor
AVR	Atmel low power, high performance microcontroller
BOM	Bill of Materials - a list of the materials and quantities required to build/construct a kit
BPF	Band Pass Filter - a device that passes frequencies within a certain range and rejects (attenuate s) frequencies outside that range
CD	Compact Disk media format and form factor
CFGSR	Software to program the Si570 using a USB interface
DAC	Digital to Analog Converter
DDS	Direct Digital Sampling
DIL	Dual In-line circuit
Dimension 4	Software for Microsoft Windows that synchs PC time to internet time at chosen intervals (important to programs such as WSPR)
DIPS	Dual In-line Package
DLL	dynamic linked library (Microsoft program support)
DOS	Disk Based Operating System for Personal Computers
Dragon	an FPGA development board that plugs into a PCI and/or USB port
Dream	Open-source application to run DRM
DRM	Digital Radio Mondaile a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies used for AM HF; Digital Rights Management
DSP	Digital Signal Processing
DttSP	Linux based SDR management software
EIA	Electronics Industries Alliance (Standards)
EMI	Electro-Magnetic Interference
EMU0202	Creative Labs Sound Card for PCs
EVK	Alereon Ultraband prototype development platform
FCC	US Federal Communication Commission
FCC-1	Frequency Meter kit from the Northern California QRP Club
FEC	Forward Error Correction
FELD HELL	Facsimile protocol for HF images (AKA "HellSchreiber")
FET	Field Effect Transistor
FPGA	Field Programmable Gate Array
FSK	Frequency Shift Keying
HEX	hexadecimal numerical presentation. Also used to describe a file of computer instructions in hexadecimal notation.
HRD	Ham Radio Deluxe
HVS	High Voltage Serial (has something to do with programming Atiny AVR processors)
I,Q	Signals used in SDR. The I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) signals are identical in all respects except phase (there is 90 degree phase difference between them - "quadrature")
I2C	(Inter-IC) bus is a bi-directional two-wire serial bus
IC	Integrated Circuit
IDC	Integrated Distribution Circuit
IF	Intermediate Frequency
ISP	internet service provider
ISP	In circuit serial programming (aka, In System Programming)
JTAG	Joint Test Action Group; Programmable Methods of Interface Testing; type of soldering technique
KGKSDR	M0KGK SDR Decoder Software
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display
LED	Light Emitting Diode
LPT	(Line Print Terminal) Parallel Printer I/O port on PC
MCU	(Micro Controller Unit) Microcomputer on a chip; Motor Control Unit
MME	Software Application Programming Interface for managing audio streams (Introduced by Microsoft in 1991)
Mobo	The 9V1AL Motherboard (MoBo) is a plugin addition to the Softrock RxTx v. 6.3 transceiver kit
PC	Personal Computer
PCB	Printed Circuit Board
PCI	Personal Computer Interface (device I/O card form factor)
PIC	(Programmable Interface Controller) Microcontroller/microprocessor
PowerSDR	Flexradio’s software interface to their products and other SDRs.
PowerSdr-IQ	PowerSDR-IQ is a program for homebrew SDR designs. A variantof PowerSDR designed for use with homebrew IQ SDRs. Ported by Christos, SV1EIA
PowerSdr-SR40	A variant of PowerSDR designed for use with the Softrock line of SDR radios.
PSK	Phase Shift Keying
PSK31	Phase Shift Keying, 31 Baud developed by English amateur radio operator Peter Martinez (G3PLX)
QDE	Quadrature Direct Exciter
QRP	Low Power Communications
QSD	Quadrature Sampling Detector (the heart of an SDR receiver)
QSE	Quadrature Sampling Exciter (the TX opposite of RX QSD)
RTTY	Radio Teletype
RX	Receive
RXTX	Transceive (RX and TX in same radio)
SDR	Software Defined Radio
SDRDLL.dll	software routines to handle USB interfaces to software designed radios
SFDR	Spurious-free Dynamic Range
SI570	ANY-RATE I2C PROGRAMMABLE XO/VCXO
SIL	Single In-Line
SIP	System In Package (multiple instances in a group)
SMD	Surface Mount Device
SMT	Surface Mount Technology
SSTV	Slow Scan Video over HF
SVN	Subversion Software Version Management System
TX	Transmit
UBW	USB Bit Wacker, An inexpensive board to expose USB signals to other home brew projects
USB	Universal Serial Bus I/O specification (computer interface port)
VAC	Virtual Audio Connection
VCO	Voltage Controlled Oscillator
VCXO	Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator
VDDIN	Input Voltage for Digital Devices
VDDIO	I/O Buffer for VDD
VFO	Variable Frequency Oscillator
VNA	Vector Network Analysis
WinRad	A windows software-defined radio program modeled on Leif, SM5BSZ's Linrad software.
WSPR	Weak Signal Propagation Reporter
XO/VCXO	Crystal Oscillator/Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator
Xtal	Crystal
ZIF	Zero Insertion Force (type of socket for ICs)