NI Ettus USRP E320

The NI Ettus USRP E320 is a 2x2 MIMO software defined radio platform with embedded processing, covering 70 MHz to 6 GHz on receive and 47 MHz to 6 GHz on transmit, with up to 56 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth per channel. Built around a Xilinx Zynq-7045 SoC (dual Arm Cortex-A9 + FPGA fabric) and the Analog Devices AD9361 RF IC, the E320 runs a full Linux environment onboard, enabling standalone, networked SDR operation without a host computer.

USRP E320 Specifications

Feature	Specification
Frequency Range	70 MHz – 6 GHz (RX), 47 MHz – 6 GHz (TX)
Channels	2 Tx / 2 Rx (full duplex MIMO)
Instantaneous Bandwidth	Up to 56 MHz per channel
RF IC	Analog Devices AD9361
Processing	Xilinx Zynq-7045 SoC
CPU	Dual Arm Cortex-A9
FPGA	Zynq-7045 programmable logic
Memory	1 GB DDR3
Interface	SFP+ (1 GbE, 10 GbE or Aurora), RJ45 1 GbE, USB host, micro-USB console
GPSDO	Internal GPS Disciplined Oscillator
Storage	SD card (Linux root filesystem)
Power	6–15 VDC (20 W typical)
Software	UHD, GNU Radio, OpenAirInterface

Embedded Standalone Operation

The E320’s dual Arm Cortex-A9 processors run an OpenEmbedded-based Linux environment, enabling the SDR to operate as a standalone networked appliance. Engineers deploy UHD applications, GNU Radio flowgraphs, or custom C++/Python signal processing directly on the device, no host laptop required. Gigabit Ethernet provides remote access and high-throughput streaming for distributed deployment scenarios including spectrum monitoring arrays, cellular base station emulators, and autonomous wireless testbeds.

Built-in GPSDO

The internal GPS Disciplined Oscillator provides GPS-locked 10 MHz reference and PPS timing signals, enabling frequency accuracy to parts-per-billion levels and GPS-timestamped captures. This is essential for deployed spectrum monitoring, direction finding, geolocation applications, and any multi-node system requiring time-synchronized measurements across distributed E320 units.

Applications

The USRP E320 serves as a standalone wireless research platform for 5G NR prototyping, LTE network simulation (via OpenAirInterface), cognitive radio experiments, spectrum monitoring, radar prototyping, and field-deployed RF sensing. The 2x2 MIMO capability enables beamforming, spatial multiplexing, and diversity reception research in a self-contained, network-accessible form factor.

GSAS Micro Systems provides the USRP E320 alongside the full NI Ettus USRP portfolio available through Digilent, with guidance on USRP model selection, antenna configuration, and UHD/GNU Radio deployment for academic and R&D teams across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Pune.