Pentek has developed its fastest ever data acquisition module for its Cobalt family.
The Model 71640 is capable of digitising one 12-bit channel at 3,6 GHz or two channels at 1,8 GHz, and has provisions for the synchronisation of multiple boards for capture and analysis of even wider bandwidths.
Leveraging the National Semiconductor ADC12D1800 12-bit A/D converter, the module provides two transformer-coupled RF input ports and can operate in single- or dual-channel mode. As with all Cobalt modules, it also includes an onboard Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA for customer-specific data processing. The module includes four banks of 256 MB DDR3 SDRAM and built-in triggered data capture functions for acquiring precise data blocks.
An optimised multichannel DMA engine provides efficient data movement over the Gen2 x8 PCIe interface to host processors. An optional 8x, or dual 4x, gigabit serial I/O interface allows users to support application specific protocols and create high-bandwidth paths between modules or to additional signal processing engines.
Radar and broadband communications signal acquisition are prime applications for the 71640. To capture wideband signals with previous-generation A/D modules, developers needed to split those signals into smaller overlapping bands and use multiple A/D to digitise those bands. This created challenges whenever the target signal fell in the overlap band. The 71640’s wide bandwidth now allows system designers to eliminate the pitfalls of such overlap processing while also saving system costs of the band-splitting filters and multiple data acquisition boards.
Pentek’s ReadyFlow board support package for the 71640 allows quick configuration of the board’s many features, including a linked-list DMA engine and automatic appending of metadata and time stamps to support storage and post-capture analysis of acquired signals. In addition, the GateFlow tool provides developers with libraries and design support for implementing their own real-time analysis using the onboard Virtex-6 FPGA.
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