Reporting progress at Teledyne e2v to replace copper with fiber as the physical transport layer, connecting data converters to digital signal processors. The goal is to substantially simplify high-throughput data converter interconnect to enable remotely positioned converters. Exploiting lightweight optical fiber is seen as the key here, opening microwave RF systems to future innovation.

This article describes market disruptions currently faced by the space industry which may not only upend current commercial assumptions, but herald significant changes in the way that space-borne infrastructure is architected and operated in future. The hypothesis is that market forces and technology trends point to a necessary focus on substantially more flexible multi-mission platforms hereafter.

Discover how ultra-fast data conversion and signal processing systems can be designed to guarantee deterministic latency. Past efforts focused on increasing data transmission speeds and bandwidths but increasingly, modern applications now set an equally high value on determinism. This article considers determinism, at device level and expands on the topic of how ultra-fast data conversion and signal processing systems can be designed to guarantee deterministic latency.

Teledyne e2v HiRel announced two new additions to its family of high-power limiters, the TDLM052402, a quasi-active, 2 kW, L/S/C-Band SMT PIN Diode Limiter and the TDLM961122 High Power Limiter Module a quasi-active, 1 kW, ARNS/IFF-band SMT PIN Diode Limiter.

RF data conversion systems are experiencing rapid changes as ADC and DAC performance specifications and form factors, along with new sensor technologies (Rx & Tx), continue to advance. One system level design problem has been consistent throughout—balancing the implementation tradeoffs between the analog and digital circuitry for maximum software/system flexibility (from sensor to the digital processing units’ input/output).

Microwave RF softwarization in the Ka-band will upend satellite air interface design & deliver substantially more versatile platforms over the next decade. The disruptions impacting the space industry suggest the necessity of a development path towards fully software-defined satellites or SoftSats that deliver on-orbit reconfigurability and transponder re-use.

This paper covers design choices of the world’s first K-band data converter. By avoiding established CMOS design principles and applying an ultra-high speed process, new capabilities emerged; a compact, single-core quantizer and design expertise led to breakthrough performance and layout and circuit simplifications are dominant design considerations.