Case Study: BAE Systems achieves 80% reduction in software-defined radio development time with MathWorks

BAE Systems Achieves 80% Reduction in Software-Defined Radio Development Time

BAE Systems was tasked with developing a MIL‑STD‑188‑165A satellite communications waveform for a C4ISR radio and wanted to evaluate a faster design flow than its traditional hand‑coded VHDL approach. Working with MathWorks tools—primarily Simulink, MATLAB, Communications Toolbox, and Simulink Coder—BAE Systems ran parallel projects to compare the existing workflow with Model‑Based Design.

Using MathWorks Simulink and toolboxes together with Xilinx System Generator for automatic code generation, BAE Systems modeled, simulated, and verified the SDR transmitter and receiver before generating FPGA VHDL, which worked on first download. The MathWorks‑led approach produced a >10:1 reduction in signal‑processing development time (engineer effort dropped from 645 hours to 46 hours), an overall project time reduction of more than 4:1 (about 80% faster), faster bug detection, and simplified clocking and interfacing.

BAE Systems

David Haessig

Senior Member of Technical Staff