I understand BladeRF support has been discussed before but all the discussions I could find are really old and involve the older BladeRF's. So, because I'm planning to finally upgrade from an RTL-SDR to a proper SDR, all the research I've done has led me to two options: Ettus B200/210 or BladeRF 2.0 micro xA4.
I really want to be able to use OpenLTE_eNodeB, among other software. My question is simply:
Is the OpenLTE_eNodeB implementation of BladeRF mature enough as to install and run without surprises, just like with the Ettus devices? Or is it really worth it to pay the extra lot and go for the Ettus?
Just reminding that the B200 costs twice as much as the BladeRF and the B210 three times as much. On top of that, the Ettus devices may need additional clock reference while the BladeRF seems to be stable enough for LTE out of the box (at least at the research stage). Needless to say, I'd much rather do with the BladeRF... unless people are still having problems with getting it to work (i.e. appear in available networks, UE to connect to it, etc.)
Thanks in advance,
JF
Last edit: John Farikas 2019-12-16
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hey John, I was in the same boat. I got the xA4 and it works flawlessly with srsRAN (srsLTE), I'm here now trying to see if openLTE will let me do TDD. Granted, even the blade clock isn't good enough (at least mine isn't) BUT you can get a GPS disciplined oscillator on ebay for ~200 or the leo bednar GPSDO and be just fine.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi folks,
I understand BladeRF support has been discussed before but all the discussions I could find are really old and involve the older BladeRF's. So, because I'm planning to finally upgrade from an RTL-SDR to a proper SDR, all the research I've done has led me to two options: Ettus B200/210 or BladeRF 2.0 micro xA4.
I really want to be able to use OpenLTE_eNodeB, among other software. My question is simply:
Is the OpenLTE_eNodeB implementation of BladeRF mature enough as to install and run without surprises, just like with the Ettus devices? Or is it really worth it to pay the extra lot and go for the Ettus?
Just reminding that the B200 costs twice as much as the BladeRF and the B210 three times as much. On top of that, the Ettus devices may need additional clock reference while the BladeRF seems to be stable enough for LTE out of the box (at least at the research stage). Needless to say, I'd much rather do with the BladeRF... unless people are still having problems with getting it to work (i.e. appear in available networks, UE to connect to it, etc.)
Thanks in advance,
JF
Last edit: John Farikas 2019-12-16
Hey John, I was in the same boat. I got the xA4 and it works flawlessly with srsRAN (srsLTE), I'm here now trying to see if openLTE will let me do TDD. Granted, even the blade clock isn't good enough (at least mine isn't) BUT you can get a GPS disciplined oscillator on ebay for ~200 or the leo bednar GPSDO and be just fine.