Analog Devices: HSC-ADC-EVALCZ High Speed ADC USB FPGA Evaluation Kit

Kit Overview

The Analog Devices, Inc. high speed converter evaluation platform (HSC-ADC-EVALCZHSC-ADC-EVALCZ) includes the latest version of VisualAnalog and an FPGA-based buffer memory board to capture blocks of digital data from the Analog Devices high speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) evaluation boards. The ADC capture board is connected to the PC through a USB port and is used with VisualAnalog to quickly evaluate the performance of high speed ADCs. Users can view an FFT for a specific analog input and encode rate to analyze SNR, SINAD, SFDR, and harmonic information.

• The ADC capture board is easy to set up. Additional equipment needed includes an Analog Devices high speed ADC evaluation board, a signal source, and a clock source. Once the kit is connected and powered, the evaluation is enabled instantly on the PC.
• The ADC capture board enables numerous expansion and evaluation possibilities by virtue of its powerful reconfigurable FPGA core.
• The system can acquire digital data at speeds up to 644 MSPS single data rate (SDR) and 800 MSPS double data rate (DDR).
• The FPGA contains an integrated FIFO memory that allows capture of data record lengths up to a total of 64 kB. A USB 2.0 microcontroller communicating with VisualAnalog allows for easy interfacing to newer computers using the USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 compatible) interface.

The ADC capture board provides all of the support circuitry required to accept two 18-bit channels from an ADC’s parallel CMOS or LVDS outputs. Various functions such as FPGA configuration load options and I/O logic levels can be selected by proper connection of various jumpers or switches .

When using the HSC-ADC-EVALCZHSC-ADC-EVALCZ in conjunction with an ADC evaluation board, it is critical that the signal sources used for the ADC board’s analog input and clock have very low phase noise (<1 ps rms jitter) to achieve the ultimate performance of the converter. Proper filtering of the analog input signal to remove harmonics and lower the integrated or broadband noise at the input is also necessary to achieve the specified noise performance.

Key Applications: Performance evaluation of high speed ADC's.