Acertain convergence occurs when multiple technologies align in time to make possible those things that once were only dreamed. The explosive growth of the Internet starting in 1994 was one of those events. While the Internet had existed for many years in government and education prior to that, its popularity had never crossed over into the general populace because of its slow speed and arcane interface. The development of the Web browser, the rapidly accelerating power and availability of the PC, and the availability of inexpensive and increasingly speedy modems brought about the Internet convergence. Suddenly, it all came together so that the Internet and the worldwide Web joined the everyday lexicon of our society.
A similar convergence is occurring in radio communications through digital signal processing (DSP) software to perform most radio functions at performance levels previously considered unattainable. DSP has now been incorporated into much of amateur radio gear on the market to deliver improved noise-reduction and digital-filtering performance. More recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the emergence of so-called softwaredefined radios (SDRs).
A software-defined radio is characterized by its flexibility: Simply modifying or replacing software programs can completely change its functionality. This allows easy upgrade to new modes and improved performance without the need to replace hardware. An SDR can also be easily modified to accommodate the operating needs of individual applications. There is a distinct difference between a radio that internally uses software for some of its functions and a radio that can be completely redefined in the field through modification of software. The latter is a software-defined radio.
More at http://www.ece.jhu.edu/~cooper/SWRadio/Yblood1.pdf
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