High-speed analog-digital converter

Citation

(2008), "High-speed analog-digital converter", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 80 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2008.12780fad.001

High-speed analog-digital converter

Article Type: Equipment and software From: Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, Volume 80, Issue 6

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, recently announced the ICS-1650 4-channel high-speed analog to digital converter (ADC). Designed for demanding applications such as software-defined radio, diagnostic imaging, radar and signals intelligence, the ICS-1650 takes advantage of leading edge technologies to deliver superior analog-to-digital performance.

“With the ICS-1650, we have built on the legacy of our families of digital receiver products and developed a solution that takes maximum advantage of the increased PC bus bandwidths and multi-core CPUs that characterise leading edge desktop and server-class products,” said Christopher Lever, Global Product Manager, Sensor Processing and I/O at GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. “This feature-packed product will be attractive as a key element in software defined radio and diagnostic imaging architectures. No other product offers this range of features in the same form factor.”

The ICS-1650 features four 12 bit analog input channels capable of simultaneous sampling rates of up to 250 MHz. Higher channel count systems can be assembled by synchronising up to four cards together. Advanced signal processing power is provided by a user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA, while powerful additional digital down-conversion (DDC) functionality is optionally provided via a Graychip GC5016 ASIC. 16 MB of QDR II SRAM memory is provided for buffering or scratchpad use, and a PCI Express x4 bus interface maximises overall system throughput.

The four-lane PCI Express interface provides up to 1.25 GB/s net payload data rate. This is sufficient to allow continuous data acquisition at sample rates exceeding 200 MHz on all four channels, but still provides mechanical compatibility with small form factor motherboards. This is important for users of micro ATX systems, which usually do not provide x8 or wider auxiliary PCI Express slots.

Available for the ICS-1650 are Windows and Linux Software Development Kits (including API level source code and application examples) and a Hardware Development Kit (including VHDL source code, all timing constraints, and Test Bench and ISE projects) to assist development of FPGA code for those customers who require it.

Details available from: GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. Tel: +44 (0) 1327 322821.