SUMMARYThe general idea of software radio is to develop highly integrated radio transceiver structures with high degree of flexibility and multimode capabilities, achieved through increased role of digital signal processing software in defining the functionalities which have traditionally been implemented with analog RF techniques. This paper explores the software radio concept from the receiver architecture and signal processing points of view, with mainly the wireless terminal application in mind. We first discuss the critical issues in alternative receiver architectures with simplified analog parts and increased configurability. We also introduce certain advanced digital signal processing techniques which could potentially relieve some of the essential problems and pave the way towards DSP-based, highly integrated, and highly configurable terminals. Big emphasis is on efficient digital multirate signal processing methods and complex (I/Q) signal processing.