To aid high-speed manufacturing, Maxim Integrated has introduced a new subsystem reference design that provides two pairs of analog input and output channels with a 400-KSample/s sampling rate and 16-bit resolution. These channels support ±10-V and ±20-mA signals, allowing control systems to use either voltage or current signals.
The MAXREFDES32# is designed for process control systems like servo drives, resolvers, and encoders. Designed to isolate power and data, the subsystem is built around two 500-KSample/s analog-to-digital converters and two low-noise digital-to-analog converters. The voltage output settles to within the two least significant bits in 17 ms while current output signals settle to within the same range in 77 ms.
The device is also equipped with four dual fast-setting, high-voltage operational amplifiers, which attenuate and buffer the signals to match the input range of the ADC. In addition, the reference design features seven high-speed digital isolators, a peak-current-mode converter for fly-back or boost supplies, and regulated power rails ranging from +18, -18, +5, and -1.25 V.
The MAXREFDES32# can connect to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and microcontroller development boards compatible with the FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) standard. The subsystem is also configured with firmware that targets ARM Cortex-A9 processors embedded on Xilinx's Zynq chips.