The LimeSDR Micro M.2 2280 software-defined radio (SDR) card combines an NXP LA9310 baseband processor and a Lime Microsystems LMS7002M transceiver, and targets integration into portable or embedded solutions with a spare M.2 PCIe Gen3 x1 socket.
The module is offered in a 1T2R configuration by default, but can be expanded to 1T4R via an FPC connector, supports a 30 MHz to 3.8 GHz frequency range, and up to 100 MHz bandwidth. Target applications include 4G LTE/5G, future RAN research, custom user equipment/modems, drone communications, IoT, satellite communications, and custom waveform generation.
LimeSDR Micro M.2 SDR card specifications:
- SoC – NXP LA9310 programmable baseband processor
- Vector Signal Processing Accelerator (VSPA) Gen 2 up to 80 GFLOPs
- Control Processor – Arm Cortex-M4 at up to 307 MHz
- Storage – 512 Kbit EEPROM memory for NXP LA9310 initial configuration
- RF
- Lime Microsystems LMS7002M RF transceiver
- Channels – 1T2R expandable to 1T4R via two analogue baseband inputs on an FPC connector (see Connectors section below)
- Frequency Range – 30 MHz to 3.8 GHz
- Bandwidth – 100 MHz TDD or half-duplex operation and 50 MHz FDD
- Analogue Filtering – 0.75 – 100 MHz
- Sample Rate – Up to 160 Msps half-duplex (Tx or Rx) and TDD, and up to 61.44 Msps FDD
- Connectors
- 3x MHF4 RF (TX, RX1 & RX2)
- 15-pin FPC external analogue I/Q baseband input (RX3 & RX4)
- Host Interface – PCIe Gen 3 x1 via M.2 Key -B+M edge connector
- I/O expansion via 8-pin FPC connector
- 4x GPIOs 3.3V on GPIO connector
- I2C on GPIO connector (shared with on-board devices)
- Sensor – TMP1075NDRLR temperature sensor
- Clock Subsystem
- Rakon E6245LF 30.72 MHz VCTCXO
- VCTCXO may be tuned by an onboard 16-bit DAC
- Reference clock input and output connector
- 4x MHF4 clock and PPS I/O
- Misc
- 2x Green LEDs
- Optional GNSS Receiver: Antenova M10578-A3 3 for location, time of day, and generating a VCTCXO DAC value. A future firmware update might add GSPDO support (TBC)
- Power Supply – 3.3V via M.2 edge connector
- Dimensions – 80 x 22 mm; note: the card may not be suited to installation in certain space-constrained systems, e.g., laptops, due to the non-standard module height of up to ~4mm from the PCBA top side.
LimeMicro has offered SDR solutions based on the LMS7002M RF transceiver for years, but they were all FPGA-based so far. They’ve now switched to the NXP LA9310 ultra-low-power baseband processor for applications needing to meet specific size, weight, and/or power requirements.
It’s still 100% programmable, and the company points to the NXP LA9310 Reference Manual and VSPA2 Instruction Set Manual both available without NDA, open source VSPA kernels for functions such as FFT, inverse FFT, CRC generation, FIR filters, mixer, and modulation/demodulation (some compatible with MATLAB), as well as the existing documentation for the LMS7002M chip which is supported by the Lime Suite NG driver stack and the wider SDR ecosystem with integration with projects such as SoapySDR, GNU Radio, Amarisoft 4G/5G, OpenAirInterface, and srsRAN. The company will also release the hardware design for the M.2 module, and the DSP firmware and Arm firmware have already been released on GitHub.
The company also designed the LimeFEA HF Micro to add a third receive path with a frequency range of 0 – 30 MHz to LimeSDR Micro with the following key features.
- Medium Wave (MW) broadcast notch filter
Band filters- 0 – 2 MHz LPF
- 2 – 12 MHz BPF
- 12 – 30 MHz BPF
- 90 dB gain
- 72 dB programmable step attenuation
- 5x MHF4 to SMA transition
- TDD switching out
Two other products are the LimeSDR Micro Pro, which combines the LimeSDR Micro and the LimeFEA HF Micro to provide a USB4 (40 Gbps mode only) peripheral with an aluminum enclosure, and the LimeFEA M.2 2280 full-size PCIe x4 card with a 2×2 MIMO RF front-end (RFE), which integrates low-noise amplifiers in the receive paths (100 MHz to ~4 GHz receive frequency range) and power amplifier (PA) drivers in the transmit paths (100 MHz to 6 GHz transmit frequency range).
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Lime Microsystems had launched the LimeSDR Micro M.2 SDR card and associated products on Crowd Supply with a $100,000 funding target. Rewards start at $199 for the LimeSDR Micro basic and $299 for the LimeSDR Micro GNSS. A pledge of $199 is asked for the LineFEA HF Micro card, $299 for the LimeFEA M.2 2280 PCIe card, and $799 for the LimeSDR Micro Pro system. Shipping adds $8 to the US, $18 to the rest of the world, and deliveries are scheduled to start by September 30, 2026.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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