Analog Devices’ 2.5-Gsample/sec ADC in prototyping module

New Products | June 3, 2014

By eeNews Europe

Digital Signal Processing Analog

ADI’s AD-FMCADC2-EBZ FMC module with HDL code and software drivers, is intended to support rapid design prototyping and interoperability with Xilinx FPGAs. The AD-FMCADC2-EBZ board incorporates the 12-bit, 2.5- Gsample/sec AD9625-2.5 A/D converter, introduced at the same time, with input balun, power supplies and software stack.

This module provides wideband dynamic performance and integrated functionality and enables development and prototyping of advanced RF sampling architectures. With its 76 dBc of spurious-free dynamic range at 1.8 GHz Ain, the AD9625-2.5’s wideband dynamic performance means that designers can capture and process a spectral interval that is four-times “cleaner” than that possible with alternative devices.

A user endorsement comes from Olivier Fouquet, President of Ingespace; “Ingespace has developed a wideband data acquisition system that is based on several AD9625-2.5s….the AD9625-2.5 Gsample/sec …..offers excellent linearity in the DC / 1 GHz band and 80 dB SFDR. In addition, the choice of the JESD204B interface allows us to couple several AD9625-2.5s to the same Virtex7 FPGA, thereby increasing performance by limiting the complexity and the total cost of the system. Finally, its small size and limited power dissipation has enabled us to produce a compact solution that requires a very light dissipation system.” Fouquet adds; “Having developed a DC coupling solution on the analogue input, it is now possible to acquire more than 2 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth by making use of complex sampling. This type of solution has great potential in the fields of telecommunications, aerospace and defence."

A video is at; www.analog.com/AD9625video

The module comes with a content stack of reference designs, software and HDL code to reduce programing and design time for any application. ADI maintains an information resource on its FPGA reference designs at https://wiki.analog.com/resources/fpga

The AD9625 provides better noise and dynamic range performance – a 150 dBFS/Hz noise floor and 80 dBc SFDR out to Nyquist. This level of performance means designers can discern by 4X smaller signals in the presence of noise, clutter, blockers and interferers. The AD9625 can be used for advanced new designs in communications, instrumentation and military/aerospace applications. It is available with a performance evaluation board and an FMC module to simplify system prototyping and platform-level design and layout.

The AD9625-2.5 is designed for sampling wide bandwidth analogue signals and can be used up to its third Nyquist zone. Its wider input bandwidth enables advanced RF sampling architectures that reduce the number of analogue frequency down-conversion stages and their associated noise and cost contributions. The simplified system architecture eliminates the need to interleave multiple A/D converters to obtain needed performance and allows for the development of reconfigurable platforms. The AD9625-2.5 simplifies the digital interfacing challenge by integrating two digital-down converters (DDCs), two numerically controlled oscillators (NCOs) and a configurable JESD204B serial link for the output data.

Analog Devices; www.analog.com/AD9625.2.5

ADI is also introducing the ADA4961 RF differential A/D converter driver amplifier that drives heavy loads to 1.5 GHz and beyond and achieves -90 dBc IMD3 performance at 500 MHz and -87 dBc at 1.5 GHz. Combined with very low output noise (6.8 nV/√Hz), the new amplifier delivers 133 dB/Hz SFDR performance at 1.5 GHz and sets a new benchmark for dynamic range vs. power consumed.

This new level of RF performance allows wideband RF GSPS converters to achieve their optimum performance with minimal limitations of the driver amplifier or constraints on overall power that typically result from GaAs amplifiers. The ADA4961 can easily drive 10- to 16-bit high-speed converters, and in many receiver applications, may eliminate the need for an anti-alias filter.

Product	Availability	Price Each Per 1K	Packaging
AD9625BBPZ.2.5	July 2014	$625	196-ball BGA 12mm X 12mm
ADA4961	NOW	$11.99	24-lead LFCSP 4 mm X 4 mm
AD-FMCADC2-EBZ Rapid Prototyping Platform	NOW	$750 per	NA
AD9625-2.5 EBZ Device Performance Board	NOW	$750 per	NA
HSC-ADC-EVALEZ Performance Board Data Capture Card	NOW	$1155 per	NA