DotNetSupport
The .NET bindings for SoapySDR give the user access to the full SoapySDR functionality in C#. There are some differences between the C++ API and the .NET API, primarily to better match C# coding conventions and take advantage of native .NET capabilities to provide convenient extensions to the API. These changes will be explained below, and full .NET API documentation is available (TODO: link when uploaded) here.
There is currently no planned Mono support, as CMake only natively supports C# on Windows with MSVC.
The following dependencies are needed to build SoapySDR's .NET bindings. Links to prebuilt installers within.
- MSVC toolkit 1920+ / Visual Studio 16+
- CMake (3.8)+: necessary for native C# support
- SWIG: used to bridge C++ and C#
Per C# API convention, trivial SoapySDR::Device getters and setters are exposed via properties.
Read-write properties are generally device-wide and independent of RF direction. For example:
- C++:
rate = sdr->getMasterClockRate()andsdr->setMasterClockRate(rate) - .NET:
rate = sdr.MasterClockRateandsdr.MasterClockRate = rate
Device identification getters are now accessed by read-only properties. For example:
- C++:
key = sdr->getHardwareKey() - .NET:
key = sdr.HardwareKey
In a significant departure from the C++ API, streams are exposed as classes with their own read/write functions, rather than as opaque handles passed into the Device class. Streaming functions can read from and write to a variety of containers, allowing the classes to be used with managed C# types or arbitrary unsafe pointers.
TX
T[], T[][]System.ReadOnlyMemory<T>, System.ReadOnlyMemory<T>[]-
System.ReadOnlySpan<T>(single-channel only) IntPtr, IntPtr[]
RX
T[], T[][]System.Memory<T>, System.Memory<T>[]-
System.Span<T>(single-channel only) IntPtr, IntPtr[]
Also, rather than returning multiple values via output parameters, streaming functions return these values via a single output class, whose fields correspond to the output values for the given function. See Pothosware.SoapySDR.StreamResult.
-
SOAPY_SDR_*#defines have been changed to proper C# enums. For example,SOAPY_SDR_TXbecomesPothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Tx. - Functions that accept
SoapySDR::Kwargsas arguments on the C++ layer can accept either a string or anyIDictionary<string, string>subclass.
// Enumerate devices.
var results = Pothosware.SoapySDR.Device.Enumerate();
foreach(var result in results)
System.Console.WriteLine(result);
// Create device instance.
// Args can be user-defined or from the enumeration result.
var args = "driver=rtlsdr";
var sdr = new Pothosware.SoapySDR.Device(args);
// Query device info.
System.Console.WriteLine("Antennas:");
foreach(var antenna in sdr.ListAntennas(Pothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Rx, 0)))
System.Console.WriteLine(" * " + antenna);
System.Console.WriteLine("Gains:");
foreach(var gain in sdr.ListGains(Pothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Rx, 0)))
System.Console.WriteLine(" * " + gain);
System.Console.WriteLine("Frequency ranges:");
foreach(var freqRange in sdr.GetFrequencyRange(Pothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Rx, 0)))
System.Console.WriteLine(" * " + freqRange);
// Apply settings.
sdr.SetSampleRate(Pothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Rx, 0, 1e6);
sdr.SetFrequency(Pothosware.SoapySDR.Direction.Rx, 0, 912.3e6);
// Setup a stream (complex floats).
var rxStream = sdr.SetupRxStream<float>(new uint[]{0}, "");
rxStream.Activate(); // Start streaming
// Create a reusable array for RX samples.
var buff = new float[rxStream.MTU * 2];
// Receive some samples.
for(var i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
{
Pothosware.SoapySDR.StreamResult streamResult;
var errorCode = rxStream.Read<float>(ref buff, Pothosware.SoapySDR.StreamFlags.None, 0, 0, out streamResult);
System.Console.WriteLine("Error code: " + errorCode);
System.Console.WriteLine("Receive flags: " + streamResult.Flags);
System.Console.WriteLine("Timestamp (ns): " + streamResult.TimeNs);
}
// Shut down the stream.
rxStream.Deactivate();
rxStream.Close();