[Hackrf-dev] HackRF One with SPI/UART/I2C

[Chuck McManis]

Short answer? Sure it is "possible", but if you have to ask how it may be a
fairly steep learning curve.

Looking at the schematic here:
https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf/blob/master/doc/hardware/hackrf-one-schematic.pdf

You would probably want to code up a simple serial port (likely SPI) in
VHDL or Verilog for the CPLD on the schematic.
Then you would need to "bodge" aka blue wire, the lines from the CPLD to a
connector the microprocessor could talk to.

On the plus side you might be able to get better than USB2 bandwidth out of
SPI, on the down side by bypassing the USB port you also need a way to
patch a 5V power supply into the PCB.

I would suggest, as someone who has been looking at SDRs and now has half a
dozen, that you might be better off buying an ADALM-PLUTO, swapping out the
ADC for the pin compatible big brother, and then writing your code directly
to the ARM processor on the Zynq FPGA on that unit. You will swap the ADC
to get the same frequency range as the HackRF One, of course you would also
want to add an RF switch or something so that you could switch between the
current microwave input filter bank on the PLUTO with probably three, one
for 1Mhz - 100Mhz, one for 100Mhz to 500Mhz, and tighten up the current one
to go 500Mhz to 6000Mhz.

Either case, having a surface mount compatible rework station and a
microscope is *super* handy and a fully licensed copy of Vivado (the Xilinx
development kit, although the unlicensed kit would *probably* work you
might need to tweak the floor planning to get everything to fit in the
XC2C64 (I am pretty sure it is pin compatible with the 64 and 256 macrocell
versions so you might be able to finesse it that way as well.)

I'd weigh that against what you're trying to do since talking to it through
the USB interface is just software (and doesn't void your warranty)

--Chuck

On Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 8:25 PM, Jack Hunt <jackgig2014 at tamu.edu> wrote:

> Hello
>
> I was wondering if I would be able to send commands and receive data from
> the HackRF One by using a microcontroller or microprocessor. Any
> information on how to go about this process would be welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Jack
>
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> HackRF-dev at greatscottgadgets.com
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>
>
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