Designed to maximize configuration flexibility, switching, and synchronization, a new series of multiband digital receivers from Pentek should meet the needs of those designers who need a flexible software-defined radio.
These receivers target commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications using the 64-bit, 66-MHz CompactPCI bus. Specifically, applications include synchronous data communications, wireless basestations, direction finding, satellite communications, wireless local-area networks (WLANs), and any high-frequency military or telecommunication application. The receivers come in 3U and 6U formats.
The 7231 features four RF inputs at +4 dBm full scale into 50-(omega) front-panel surface-mounted assembly connectors. The 7331 has two analog inputs. Each input is transformer-coupled and digitized by AD6645 14-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with sampling rates of 80 or 105 MHz.
The ADC output is sent to eight Graychip GC4016 quad multiband digital receiver chips on the 7231 or four quad receiver chips on the 7331. Maximum sampling rate on the receivers is 100 MHz. Each receiver's four channels are capable of independent center frequency tuning from dc to fs/2, where fs is the sampling rate. The analog-to-digital outputs can bypass the receivers to go directly to FPGAs.
Both receivers contain Xilinx Virtex-II FPGAs, which can perform a wide range of user-selectable data packing and formatting functions. Dual-port memories inside the FPGAs provide efficient PCI bus transfers by buffering receiver and analog-to-digital data. Users may define their own custom signal-processing functions, including complex DSP algorithms in the FPGAs. Pentek also provides development tools to produce code for unique applications, such as fast Fourier transform and radar pulse compression.
The 7231 and 7331 receivers are available within eight to 10 weeks. Pricing for the 7231 16-channel receiver starts at $6795. The 32-channel version starts at $12,795. The 16-channel 7331 goes for $6695.