Ultra-wideband A/D converter signal-acquisition board introduced by Tekmicro for VXS and VME embedded computing systems
CHELMSFORD, Mass., 11 May 2010. TEK Microsystems Inc. in Chelmsford, Mass., is introducing the Proteus-V5 ultra-wideband A/D converter signal acquisition VITA 41 VXS board that is compatible with legacy VMEembedded computing systems.
The Proteus-V5, a member of the Tekmicro QuiXilica product family, has two 10-bit analog-to-digital converter channels, each operating as fast as 5 gigasamples per second.
"The Proteus-V5 also has sample accurate trigger synchronization across multiple cards, enabling solutions for single and multi-channel applications that were previously impossible to realize using COTS products," says Andy Reddig, chief executive officer at Tekmicro. “By combining A/D converter technology with high-density FPGA processing on one card, Proteus-V5 enables ultra-wideband acquisition and advanced signal processing without constraints due to bus, fabric, or backplane bottlenecks.”
Proteus-V5 is based on the e2v EV10AQ190 A/D converter device, which contains four separate 10-bit 1.25-gigasample-per-second A/D converters. Each device can be configured to operate as four 1.25-gigasample-per-second converters in a non-interleaved mode, or as either two channels at 2.5-gigasamples per second, or one channel at 5 gigasamples per-second using the converters in an interleaved mode.
In all modes, the converters provide 10-bit resolution and input bandwidth exceeding 3 GHz to enable the A/D converter to be used as a 5-gigasample-per-second converter for 1st Nyquist applications or as a high-density multichannel A/D converter for lower bandwidth applications using either 1st or 2nd Nyquist sampling.
The Proteus-V5 contains two separate A/D converter devices, each with its own front-end FPGA for signal processing. In the QuiXilica-V5 family, the front-end FPGA is typically a Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T-2 device. Future QuiXilica products later in 2010 will offer higher-density Virtex-6 FPGA options including LX240T, SX315T and SX475T devices.
The two front-end FPGAs are supplemented with a back-end FPGA for additional processing or for backplane or front-panel communications. In the QuiXilica-V5 family, the back-end FPGA can be configured with a range of Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA options, from the standard LX110T-2 up to a LX330T, FX200T, or SX240T, depending on application requirements.
The Proteus-V5 includes six banks of DDR3 memory with total capacity of 6 gigabytes and aggregate throughput of 38+ gigabytes per second, supporting a wide range of signal processing algorithms with deep memory buffering of the entire signal acquisition stream. Each FPGA supports a Gigabit Ethernet interface for control plane purposes, along with a range of front panel and backplane I/O connections for high speed communications with other processing cards.
The Proteus-V5 is available for a wide range of operating environments, including commercial grade, rugged air and conduction cooled, allowing the card to be used for laboratory and deployed requirements in VME and VXS systems. For more information contact Tekmicro online at www.tekmicro.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
