Mirela Şorecău, Emil Șorecău, Paul Bechet
Recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) activity highlight the need for advanced electromagnetic spectrum monitoring systems that can detect drones operating near sensitive or restricted areas. Such systems can identify emissions from drones even under frequency-hopping conditions, providing an early warning system and enabling a timely response to protect critical infrastructure and ensure secure operations. In this context, the present work proposes the development of a high-performance multichannel broadband monitoring system with real-time analysis capabilities, designed on an SDR architecture based on USRP with three acquisition channels: two broadband (160 MHz and 80 MHz) and one narrowband (1 MHz) channel, for simultaneous, of extended spectrum segments, aligned with current requirements for analyzing emissions from drones in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ISM bands. The processing system was configured to support cumulative bandwidths of over 200 MHz through a high-performance hardware platform (powerful CPU, fast storage, GPU acceleration) and fiber optic interconnection, ensuring stable and lossless transfer of large volumes of data. The proposed spectrum monitoring system proved to be extremely sensitive, flexible, and extensible, achieving a reception sensitivity of −130 dBm, thus exceeding the values commonly reported in the literature. Additionally, the parallel multichannel architecture facilitates real-time detection of signals from different frequency ranges and provides a foundation for advanced signal classification. Its reconfigurable design enables rapid adaptation to various signal types beyond unmanned aerial systems.