Teledyne e2v has released a 12-bit, quad-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Bridging the gap between the analog RF and digital worlds, the EV12AQ605’s input bandwidth exceeds 6.5 GHz in the extended bandwidth mode. The number of channels, gain, offset and sample delay are all programmable through its SPI interface.
Inclusion of a crosspoint switch enables the EV12AQ605’s four processing cores to run independently, simultaneously or paired, allowing allocation of the full sampling capacity to meet specific channel count requirements. The ADC delivers a 6.4 GSPS single-channel sampling rate, 3.2 GSPS per channel in dual-channel mode and 1.6 GSPS per channel in quad-channel mode. It can be operated as a standalone unit or synchronized to ADC counterparts. Output data is delivered at speeds to 12.8 Gbps via a low-latency ESIstream serial link.
A variation on the company’s quad-core EV12AQ600 ADC, the EV12AQ605 signal conditioning solution offers almost identical functionality at a lower price, which will appeal to high volume, cost-sensitive markets.
The only key performance differences between the new ADC and earlier version are the number of interleaving mismatch calibration settings saved on the one time programmable (OTP) memory and a narrower temperature range. The EV12AQ605 operates from −40°C to +110°C, compared to −55°C to +125°C for the EV12AQ600.
The two ADCs are pin-to-pin compatible, providing a straightforward replacement path without altering existing designs using the EV12AQ600. The ADC is packaged in a 16 mm x 16 mm BGA.
Teledyne e2v’s proprietary chain synchronizing mechanism assures continued synchronization across the channels of multiple units. Consequently, the EV12AQ605 is optimized for addressing the rising channel counts of wireless infrastructure, where digital beamforming, phased-array antennas and MIMO will become common. The ADC can also be used in phased-array radar, LiDAR, high speed industrial data acquisition hardware, wideband satellite receivers, automated test equipment and advanced digital instrumentation.
“Numerous applications are now emerging which mandate access to synchronized, deterministic data from a large number of parallel channels. Our EV12AQ605 ADCs can be synchronously chained together in a robust, reliable manner that is not affected by changes to the operating conditions. Furthermore, by being able to deal with a diverse range of system configurations through one, highly versatile ADC solution, the associated engineering costs can be minimized.” — Romain Pilard, application engineer at Teledyne e2v