🎯 BladeRF Micro A4 Overview
The BladeRF Micro A4 is a compact, high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) device designed for professional RF applications. It provides excellent performance for GSM BTS operations and IoT security testing with RFS-Portable-BTS.
✅ Key Features
Compact form factor, excellent RF performance, USB 3.0 connectivity, and professional-grade specifications for IoT security testing applications.
📊 Technical Specifications
📡 RF Specifications
- Frequency Range: 47 MHz - 6 GHz
- Bandwidth: Up to 56 MHz
- Sample Rate: Up to 61.44 MSPS
- Resolution: 12-bit ADC/DAC
- Gain Control: 0-60 dB
- Phase Noise: -100 dBc/Hz @ 10 kHz
🔌 Connectivity
- USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
- Power over USB
- External power option
- GPIO expansion
- Clock input/output
- Trigger I/O
📏 Physical
- Dimensions: 85 x 60 x 15 mm
- Weight: 45 grams
- Operating Temperature: -10°C to +70°C
- Storage Temperature: -40°C to +85°C
- Humidity: 5% to 95% RH
- Power Consumption: 2.5W typical
🔧 Installation and Setup
Hardware Installation
#!/bin/bash
# BladeRF Micro A4 Installation Script
echo "Installing BladeRF Micro A4 support..."
# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
build-essential \
cmake \
pkg-config \
libusb-1.0-0-dev \
libusb-1.0-0 \
libfftw3-dev \
libad9361-dev \
libiio-dev \
libiio-utils
# Install BladeRF host library
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF.git
cd bladeRF
git checkout 2023.07
# Build and install
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
# Install firmware
sudo bladeRF-cli --flash-firmware /usr/local/share/Nuand/bladeRF/hostedx40.rbf
echo "BladeRF Micro A4 installation completed"
USB Configuration
# Create udev rules for BladeRF
sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/88-bladerf.rules > /dev/null << 'EOF'
# BladeRF Micro A4
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2cf0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5246", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2cf0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5250", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
# BladeRF x40
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2cf0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5246", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
# BladeRF x115
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2cf0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5250", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
EOF
# Reload udev rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
# Add user to plugdev group
sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER
echo "USB configuration completed. Please log out and log back in."
🔍 Device Verification
Hardware Detection
#!/bin/bash # BladeRF Micro A4 Verification Script echo "=== BladeRF Micro A4 Verification ===" # Check USB connection echo "Checking USB connection..." lsusb | grep -i "2cf0:5246" && echo "✓ BladeRF Micro A4 detected" || echo "✗ BladeRF Micro A4 not found" # Check device permissions echo "Checking device permissions..." ls -la /dev/bus/usb/*/2cf0:5246 2>/dev/null && echo "✓ Device accessible" || echo "✗ Device not accessible" # Test BladeRF CLI echo "Testing BladeRF CLI..." bladeRF-cli --version && echo "✓ BladeRF CLI working" || echo "✗ BladeRF CLI not working" # Check device info echo "Getting device information..." bladeRF-cli -i 2>/dev/null | head -20 # Test basic functionality echo "Testing basic functionality..." bladeRF-cli -e "set frequency rx 900M; set frequency tx 900M; print" 2>/dev/null && echo "✓ Basic functionality OK" || echo "✗ Basic functionality failed" echo "=== Verification Complete ==="
Performance Testing
#!/bin/bash
# BladeRF Micro A4 Performance Test
echo "=== BladeRF Micro A4 Performance Test ==="
# Test different frequency bands
frequencies=("900M" "1800M" "1900M" "2100M" "2600M")
for freq in "${frequencies[@]}"; do
echo "Testing frequency: $freq"
# Set frequency and measure performance
bladeRF-cli -e "set frequency rx $freq; set frequency tx $freq; print" 2>/dev/null
# Test sample rate
bladeRF-cli -e "set samplerate rx 10M; set samplerate tx 10M; print" 2>/dev/null
echo "Frequency $freq test completed"
echo "---"
done
# Test bandwidth capabilities
echo "Testing bandwidth capabilities..."
bandwidths=("1M" "5M" "10M" "20M" "40M")
for bw in "${bandwidths[@]}"; do
echo "Testing bandwidth: $bw"
bladeRF-cli -e "set bandwidth rx $bw; set bandwidth tx $bw; print" 2>/dev/null
done
echo "=== Performance Test Complete ==="
⚙️ YateBTS Configuration
BladeRF Configuration
# Add to yatebts.conf [transceiver] # BladeRF Micro A4 configuration type=bladerf device=bladerf:0 frequency=900000000 bandwidth=20000000 samplerate=20000000 gain=40 tx_gain=40 rx_gain=40 # Advanced settings dc_correction=yes iq_correction=yes loopback=no calibration=auto # Power management power_save=no standby_mode=no # Clock settings clock_source=internal clock_ref=38.4M # GPIO configuration gpio_mode=disabled gpio_direction=0x00 gpio_value=0x00
GSM Configuration
# GSM BTS configuration for BladeRF Micro A4 [gsm] # Frequency settings arfcn=1 frequency=900000000 band=GSM900 # Power settings power=20 max_power=23 min_power=5 # Timing settings ta_max=63 ta_step=1 # Channel configuration channels=8 max_channels=8 # Handover settings handover_threshold=-85 handover_margin=3 # Cell parameters cell_id=1 lac=1 mcc=001 mnc=01 cell_name=RFS-Portable-BTS
📊 Performance Optimization
🎯 RF Optimization
- Optimal gain settings
- Frequency calibration
- DC offset correction
- IQ imbalance correction
- Phase noise optimization
- Spurious signal reduction
⚡ System Optimization
- USB 3.0 optimization
- Buffer size tuning
- CPU affinity settings
- Memory optimization
- Power management
- Thermal management
🔧 Software Tuning
- Driver optimization
- Kernel parameters
- Real-time scheduling
- Interrupt handling
- DMA configuration
- Buffer management
Optimization Script
#!/bin/bash # BladeRF Micro A4 Optimization Script echo "Optimizing BladeRF Micro A4 performance..." # Set CPU governor to performance echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor # Increase USB buffer sizes echo 1000 | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/usbfs_memory_mb # Set real-time priority for BladeRF processes echo "@yatebts soft rtprio 99" | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf echo "@yatebts hard rtprio 99" | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf # Optimize kernel parameters cat << 'EOF' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf # BladeRF optimization net.core.rmem_max = 134217728 net.core.wmem_max = 134217728 net.core.rmem_default = 65536 net.core.wmem_default = 65536 kernel.sched_rt_runtime_us = -1 kernel.sched_rt_period_us = 1000000 EOF # Apply kernel parameters sudo sysctl -p # Create optimized BladeRF configuration cat << 'EOF' > /opt/yatebts/bladerf-optimized.conf [transceiver] type=bladerf device=bladerf:0 frequency=900000000 bandwidth=20000000 samplerate=20000000 gain=45 tx_gain=45 rx_gain=45 dc_correction=yes iq_correction=yes buffer_size=16384 num_buffers=32 stream_timeout=1000 EOF echo "BladeRF Micro A4 optimization completed"
🔧 Troubleshooting
❌ Common Issues
- Device not detected
- Permission denied errors
- Firmware issues
- USB connection problems
- Performance issues
- Calibration failures
🔍 Diagnostic Commands
- USB device listing
- Permission verification
- Firmware status check
- Performance testing
- Signal quality analysis
- System resource monitoring
Diagnostic Script
#!/bin/bash
# BladeRF Micro A4 Diagnostic Script
echo "=== BladeRF Micro A4 Diagnostics ==="
# Check USB connection
echo "1. USB Connection Check:"
lsusb | grep -i "2cf0:5246" && echo "✓ Device found" || echo "✗ Device not found"
# Check permissions
echo "2. Permission Check:"
ls -la /dev/bus/usb/*/2cf0:5246 2>/dev/null && echo "✓ Permissions OK" || echo "✗ Permission issues"
# Check firmware
echo "3. Firmware Check:"
bladeRF-cli --flash-firmware --info 2>/dev/null | grep -i "firmware" && echo "✓ Firmware OK" || echo "✗ Firmware issues"
# Check driver
echo "4. Driver Check:"
lsmod | grep -i bladerf && echo "✓ Driver loaded" || echo "✗ Driver not loaded"
# Test basic functionality
echo "5. Basic Functionality Test:"
bladeRF-cli -e "print" 2>/dev/null && echo "✓ Basic functionality OK" || echo "✗ Basic functionality failed"
# Check system resources
echo "6. System Resources:"
echo "CPU Usage: $(top -bn1 | grep "Cpu(s)" | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d'%' -f1)%"
echo "Memory Usage: $(free | grep Mem | awk '{printf("%.1f%%", $3/$2 * 100.0)}')"
echo "USB Bandwidth: $(cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices | grep -A 10 "2cf0:5246" | grep "MaxPower" | head -1)"
# Check thermal status
echo "7. Thermal Status:"
if [ -f /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp ]; then
temp=$(cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp | head -1)
temp_c=$((temp/1000))
echo "CPU Temperature: ${temp_c}°C"
[ $temp_c -lt 70 ] && echo "✓ Temperature OK" || echo "⚠ High temperature"
fi
echo "=== Diagnostics Complete ==="
🚀 Configure BladeRF Micro A4
Set up your BladeRF Micro A4 for optimal performance with RFS-Portable-BTS
📖 Installation Guide 🔧 Troubleshooting 💬 Community Support