Lab 12: Capstone — End-to-End RF Protocol RE

Chapter: 12 (Weeks 13-14) Duration: ~15 hr independent + 5 hr workshop session Substrate: Student-chosen target + ANTSDR E200 or RTL-SDR + URH + GNU Radio Points: 30

Overview

Lab 12 is the RF-201 capstone. It is a structured project, not a step-by-step exercise.

See CAPSTONE.md for the full mission statement, target requirements, required deliverables, and two-tier grading rubric.

Summary

Select a real-world wireless target you have authority to observe. Capture its IQ. Reverse-engineer its protocol using the URH workflow from Lab 9. Implement a working GNU Radio demodulator. Write a protocol specification. Package the work reproducibly.

The capstone tests the integration of seven skills:

1. IQ capture (Labs 7, 11)
2. Signal characterisation (Labs 1, 9)
3. Symbol recovery (Labs 1, 2, 9)
4. Frame structure RE (Labs 3-6, 9)
5. GNU Radio demodulator (Labs 1-2, 5, 9, 11)
6. Protocol specification (Labs 3-9)
7. Reproducibility package (Lab 9)

Deliverables (summary; full list in CAPSTONE.md)

• Captured IQ archive (10+ complete frames)
• URH project file with labelled field boundaries
• GNU Radio demodulator flowgraph
• Written protocol specification with limit-of-confidence statement
• Reproducibility package (make capture, make demod)
• Capstone report: rf201-capstone-[LASTNAME].md (15-25 pages)
• 10-minute workshop presentation (Week 14)

Grading (30 points)

See CAPSTONE.md for the two-tier rubric.