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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Pagan, JosueAuthorZapater, MarinaAuthor

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September 17, 2019
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Article

HackRF plus GNU Radio: A software-defined radio to teach communication theory

Publicated to: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION. 60 (1): 23-40 - 2023-01-01 60(1), DOI: 10.1177/0020720919868144

Authors:

Barrio; AA; Manzano; JP; Maroto; VM; Villarín; Á; Pagán; J; Zapater; M; Ayala; JL; Hermida; R
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Affiliations

Ecole Polytech Fed Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland - Author
UCM, Dept Comp Architecture & Automat, Madrid, Spain - Author
UCM, Phys Fac, Plaza Ciencias 1, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
UPM, Dept Elect Engn, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

In this paper, an alternative to the traditional methodology related to signal processing-like subjects is proposed. These are subjects that require a deep mathematical and theoretical basis, but the practical goal is not often emphasized, which drives students to lose interest in the subject. Thus, a software-defined radio environment is proposed to provide a more practical view of the subject. This solution consists of an open hardware-software platform able to capture and process a wide range of frequencies. HackRF is the hardware component, while GNU Radio will provide the graphical support to this device. The tests performed with a set of 36 students have revealed that they are more satisfied with this framework than just employing a traditional equation-based environment as Matlab. Furthermore, their scores in the exams also support the suitability of the proposed platform.
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Keywords

Communication theoryGnu radioHackrfOerQuality educationSoftware-defined radio

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Q3 Agency Scopus (SJR), its regional focus and specialization in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, give it significant recognition in a specific niche of scientific knowledge at an international level.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.56, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-08, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 6
  • Scopus: 12
  • Google Scholar: 20
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-08:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 52.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 52 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/64403/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 380
  • Downloads: 5,130
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 4 - Quality Education, with a probability of 68% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Switzerland; United States of America.

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Project objectives

La aportación persigue los siguientes objetivos: analizar las limitaciones de la metodología tradicional en asignaturas de procesamiento de señales; proponer un entorno de radio definida por software para ofrecer una perspectiva más práctica; caracterizar la plataforma abierta de hardware y software compuesta por HackRF y GNU Radio; evaluar la satisfacción y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes mediante pruebas con 36 participantes; comparar la efectividad del entorno propuesto frente a métodos basados en ecuaciones como Matlab; y demostrar la idoneidad de esta solución para mejorar el aprendizaje en teoría de comunicaciones.
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Most relevant results

Los resultados más relevantes del estudio muestran que la implementación de un entorno de radio definida por software basado en HackRF y GNU Radio mejora significativamente la enseñanza de la teoría de la comunicación. En primer lugar, el uso de esta plataforma práctica incrementó la satisfacción de 36 estudiantes en comparación con métodos tradicionales basados en Matlab. En segundo lugar, los alumnos demostraron un mejor rendimiento académico, reflejado en sus calificaciones de examen. Además, la solución propuesta permite la captura y procesamiento de un amplio rango de frecuencias, facilitando una comprensión más aplicada de los contenidos teóricos. Finalmente, el entorno gráfico proporcionado por GNU Radio complementa eficazmente el hardware abierto de HackRF, consolidando un método didáctico innovador.
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Awards linked to the item

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work has been supported by the EU (FEDER) and the Spanish MINECO, under grants TIN 2015-65277-R and TEC 2012-33892, and the UCM Teaching Innovation Project PIMCD-2015-18, whose results are accessible at Barrio et al.26
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