USRP Device Families and SDR Hardware Selection Guide

The USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) product line spans five major hardware families, each optimized for a different set of performance, connectivity, and deployment requirements. Whether you need a low-cost USB radio for learning SDR, a rack-mounted platform for high-bandwidth signal acquisition, or a self-contained embedded SDR for field deployment, there is a USRP variant designed for the task. This guide maps each family to its core strengths and helps you choose the right platform before diving into the family-specific pages.

Device Families at a Glance

B Series

B200 · B210 · B200mini · B205mini · B206miniUSB 3.0 bus-powered radios covering 70 MHz – 6 GHz. The lowest-cost entry point into the USRP ecosystem—no external power supply required for most variants.

N Series

N300 · N310 · N320 · N321Network-connected SDR platform with dual SFP+ ports, embedded ARM Linux, and the MPM architecture. GPSDO option and White Rabbit time synchronization.

X3xx Series

X300 · X310High-performance Kintex-7 FPGA platform with two daughterboard slots, dual SFP+ Ethernet, and optional PCIe (MXI) connectivity. Up to 160 MHz RF bandwidth with 16-bit samples.

X4xx Series

X410 · X420 · X440Fourth-generation RFSoC-based platform with dual QSFP28 100 GigE ports, Zynq UltraScale+ processing, and up to 2048 Msps sampling rate. Rack-mountable.

E Series

E310 · E312 · E313 · E320Embedded SDR running Linux on an ARM/Zynq SoC. The E310 family supports battery operation; the E320 adds SFP+ network connectivity and an internal GPSDO.

Connection Types by Family

Family	USB 3.0	1 GigE	10 GigE	100 GigE	PCIe (MXI)
B Series	✅	—	—	—	—
N Series	—	✅ (mgmt)	✅ (SFP+)	—	—
X3xx Series	—	✅ (SFP+)	✅ (SFP+)	—	✅
X4xx Series	—	✅ (RJ45)	✅ (QSFP28)	✅ (QSFP28)	—
E Series (E320)	—	✅ (RJ45)	✅ (SFP+)	—	—
E Series (E31x)	—	✅ (RJ45)	—	—	—

The N Series and X4xx Series both use DHCP on their management RJ45 port. Data streaming happens over the SFP+ or QSFP28 interfaces at higher speeds. Network configuration affects achievable sample rates.

Choosing the Right Device

Entry Level / Learning
Lab / Networked
High Bandwidth
Embedded / Field Deploy
Synchronization

The B Series is the right starting point for new users, students, and anyone building a portable or laptop-connected radio. Key reasons to choose B Series:

Bus-powered over USB 3.0—no external supply for B200, B200mini, B205mini
Covers 70 MHz – 6 GHz with a single integrated RF frontend
Lowest cost in the USRP family
Supported by all UHD applications and GNU Radio out of the box

Recommended models: B200mini or B205mini for compact single-channel use; B210 for 2×2 MIMO.

When phase-coherent multi-channel or multi-device operation is required, consider:

N Series: Internal GPSDO, external 10/20/25 MHz reference, White Rabbit (IEEE 1588 extension) via SFP0
X3xx Series: Internal GPSDO option, OctoClock (CDA-2990) for distributing 10 MHz + PPS to multiple devices
X4xx Series: Internal GPS-disciplined OCXO, nsync eCPRI clock source, external 10 MHz SMA input

All families accept an external 1 PPS input and a 10 MHz reference clock for tight coherence between separate units.

FPGA and Software Architecture

All USRP devices are driven by the USRP Hardware Driver (UHD). The uhd::usrp::multi_usrp API provides a uniform interface regardless of the underlying hardware. Newer devices also expose the RFNoC (RF Network on Chip) framework for building custom signal processing pipelines in FPGA fabric.

Family	FPGA	Architecture
B Series	Xilinx Spartan-6	Classic UHD (legacy streaming)
N Series	Xilinx Zynq (XC7Z100 / XC7Z035)	MPM + RFNoC
X3xx Series	Xilinx Kintex-7	Classic UHD + RFNoC
X4xx Series	Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC	MPM + RFNoC
E Series	Xilinx Zynq (XC7Z020 / XC7Z045)	MPM + RFNoC

MPM (Modular Peripheral Manager) is a hardware daemon that runs on the embedded ARM processor of N Series, X4xx, and E Series devices. It manages hardware initialization and exposes an RPC interface that UHD communicates with from the host.

Quick Reference: Device Arguments

Every UHD application accepts device arguments at initialization. The type key selects the device family:

// B Series
auto usrp = uhd::usrp::multi_usrp::make("type=b200");

// N Series
auto usrp = uhd::usrp::multi_usrp::make("type=n3xx,addr=192.168.10.2");

// X3xx Series
auto usrp = uhd::usrp::multi_usrp::make("type=x300,addr=192.168.10.2");

// X4xx Series
auto usrp = uhd::usrp::multi_usrp::make("type=x4xx,addr=192.168.10.2");

// E Series
auto usrp = uhd::usrp::multi_usrp::make("type=e3xx,addr=192.168.10.2");

For detailed device-specific arguments, master clock rates, FPGA image flavors, and synchronization options, see each family’s dedicated page.

Introduction

Installation

USRP Devices

Device Families at a Glance

B Series

N Series

X3xx Series

X4xx Series

E Series

Connection Types by Family

Choosing the Right Device

FPGA and Software Architecture

Quick Reference: Device Arguments

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Introduction

Installation

USRP Devices

Documentation Index

​Device Families at a Glance

B Series

N Series

X3xx Series

X4xx Series

E Series

​Connection Types by Family

​Choosing the Right Device

​FPGA and Software Architecture

​Quick Reference: Device Arguments

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Device Families at a Glance

Connection Types by Family

Choosing the Right Device

FPGA and Software Architecture

Quick Reference: Device Arguments