Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Special thanks to the AMD-Xilinx and their AMD FPGA Playground for sponsoring this episode!
crowdsupply.com/amd/fpga-playground
In this episode of the Teardown Sessions, we're speaking to Dr. Ebrahim Busheri, the founder and CEO of Lime Microsystems, the company behind the LimeSDR XTRX. The LimeSDR XTRX is a high-performance SDR in a compact Mini PCIe form factor. Equipped with an AMD Artix™ 7 XC7A50T-2CPG236I FPGA and a Lime Microsystems LMS7002M RF transceiver, the XTRX is the latest in Lime Microsystems wildly popular line of SDRs.
*Key Moments*
00:38 Crowd Supply News and What's New
03:38 Thanks to this episode's sponsor: AMD-Xilinx
04:13 Introducing Ebrahim
05:14 The origins of Lime
06:12 What is SDR and what are the unique challenges of SDR dev?
08:26 The origins of SDR tech, history of its development
09:39 LimeSDR in the early days
10:53 Early versions of Lime Microsystems products
11:51 LMS6002 Lime's first working chip and testing challenges
13:18 2011, chip production first launches, analog v. digital design
19:13 Designing chips for open source
20:14 Birth of the MyriadRF project
21:10 Open source's role in growing the project; applying the same business model as FPGAs did
24:44 Managing the open source community and its relationship to investors
30:27 The importance of MyriadRF, Discord and GitHub in community management
33:15 The first Lime campaign on Crowd Supply
36:02 About costs and the LimeSDR Mini
37:50 LimeSDR in space!
38:54 Other implementations of LimeSDR's technology
40:24 Partnership with Fairwaves
41:29 Why AMD FPGAs were chosen for the Lime XTRX
43:38 Crowd Supply's President Josh Lifton asks about potential applications for the XTRX, given that it is an embedded device.
45:30 5G cellular networking with a Raspberry Pi
47:01 Future plans: the LMS8001 chip
49:16 A quick tour of some other Lime Microsystems projects
51:24 Chip shortage pain and Tier One customers to the rescue
53:12 Shout out to Lattice FPGAs
54:54 Final thoughts: how to contribute, the future of SDR, and advice for young engineers
*About our Guest*
Dr Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO and Founder of Lime Microsystems. Ebrahim’s experience spans over 15 years in directing and managing design teams for the implementation of high performance ICs within the wireless communication market. Ebrahim was with Middlesex University Microelectronics Centre (MUMEC) collaborating with top tier organisations such as Nokia, Qinetiq (formerly Defence Evaluation Research Agency) and Fraunhofer IAF. He was a professional group committee member of Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and is a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
[Source: limemicro.com/about/team/]
*Links & Resources*
LimeSDR XTRX on Crowd Supply: crowdsupply.com/lime-micro/limesdr-xtrx
Lime Microsystems: limemicro.com
Myriad RF homepage: myriadrf.org
Myriad RF on GitHub: github.com/myriadrf
AMD-Xilinx: amd.com/en.html
AMD FPGA Playground: crowdsupply.com/amd/fpga-playground
Lime Microsystems projects on Crowd Supply: crowdsupply.com/lime-micro
*About the Teardown Sessions*
Welcome to The Teardown Sessions, a series of interviews and hands-on learning sessions with Crowd Supply creators, staff, and lots of special guests. Crowd Supply is the crowdfunding platform of choice for engineers, hackers, designers, and idealists. We help them with the funding and support they need to deliver respectful, thoughtfully crafted, open source hardware to their delighted backers.
Come on by and see what our creators are making: https://www.crowdsupply.com.
Don't forget to Like, Link, and Subscribe!
#opensourcehardware #hardwarehacking #opensource #hardware #teardown #maker #hacker #electronics #crowdsupply #crowdfunding #manufacturing #sdr #limesdr #radio #hamradio
Special thanks to the AMD-Xilinx and their AMD FPGA Playground for sponsoring this episode!
crowdsupply.com/amd/fpga-playground
In this episode of the Teardown Sessions, we're speaking to Dr. Ebrahim Busheri, the founder and CEO of Lime Microsystems, the company behind the LimeSDR XTRX. The LimeSDR XTRX is a high-performance SDR in a compact Mini PCIe form factor. Equipped with an AMD Artix™ 7 XC7A50T-2CPG236I FPGA and a Lime Microsystems LMS7002M RF transceiver, the XTRX is the latest in Lime Microsystems wildly popular line of SDRs.
*Key Moments*
00:38 Crowd Supply News and What's New
03:38 Thanks to this episode's sponsor: AMD-Xilinx
04:13 Introducing Ebrahim
05:14 The origins of Lime
06:12 What is SDR and what are the unique challenges of SDR dev?
08:26 The origins of SDR tech, history of its development
09:39 LimeSDR in the early days
10:53 Early versions of Lime Microsystems products
11:51 LMS6002 Lime's first working chip and testing challenges
13:18 2011, chip production first launches, analog v. digital design
19:13 Designing chips for open source
20:14 Birth of the MyriadRF project
21:10 Open source's role in growing the project; applying the same business model as FPGAs did
24:44 Managing the open source community and its relationship to investors
30:27 The importance of MyriadRF, Discord and GitHub in community management
33:15 The first Lime campaign on Crowd Supply
36:02 About costs and the LimeSDR Mini
37:50 LimeSDR in space!
38:54 Other implementations of LimeSDR's technology
40:24 Partnership with Fairwaves
41:29 Why AMD FPGAs were chosen for the Lime XTRX
43:38 Crowd Supply's President Josh Lifton asks about potential applications for the XTRX, given that it is an embedded device.
45:30 5G cellular networking with a Raspberry Pi
47:01 Future plans: the LMS8001 chip
49:16 A quick tour of some other Lime Microsystems projects
51:24 Chip shortage pain and Tier One customers to the rescue
53:12 Shout out to Lattice FPGAs
54:54 Final thoughts: how to contribute, the future of SDR, and advice for young engineers
*About our Guest*
Dr Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO and Founder of Lime Microsystems. Ebrahim’s experience spans over 15 years in directing and managing design teams for the implementation of high performance ICs within the wireless communication market. Ebrahim was with Middlesex University Microelectronics Centre (MUMEC) collaborating with top tier organisations such as Nokia, Qinetiq (formerly Defence Evaluation Research Agency) and Fraunhofer IAF. He was a professional group committee member of Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and is a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
[Source: limemicro.com/about/team/]
*Links & Resources*
LimeSDR XTRX on Crowd Supply: crowdsupply.com/lime-micro/limesdr-xtrx
Lime Microsystems: limemicro.com
Myriad RF homepage: myriadrf.org
Myriad RF on GitHub: github.com/myriadrf
AMD-Xilinx: amd.com/en.html
AMD FPGA Playground: crowdsupply.com/amd/fpga-playground
Lime Microsystems projects on Crowd Supply: crowdsupply.com/lime-micro
*About the Teardown Sessions*
Welcome to The Teardown Sessions, a series of interviews and hands-on learning sessions with Crowd Supply creators, staff, and lots of special guests. Crowd Supply is the crowdfunding platform of choice for engineers, hackers, designers, and idealists. We help them with the funding and support they need to deliver respectful, thoughtfully crafted, open source hardware to their delighted backers.
Come on by and see what our creators are making: https://www.crowdsupply.com.
Don't forget to Like, Link, and Subscribe!
#opensourcehardware #hardwarehacking #opensource #hardware #teardown #maker #hacker #electronics #crowdsupply #crowdfunding #manufacturing #sdr #limesdr #radio #hamradio
