QUAD-MxFE Platform
16Tx/16Rx Direct L/S/C-Band Sampled Phased-Array/RADAR/EW/SATCOM Development Platform
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Overview
Features and Benefits
Quad-MxFE Digitizing Card- Multi-Channel, Wideband System Development Platform Using MxFE
- Mates With Xilinx VCU118 Evaluation Board (Not Included)
- 16x RF Receive (Rx) Channels (32x Digital Rx Channels)
- Total 16x 1.5GSPS to 4GSPS ADC
- 48x Digital Down Converters (DDCs), Each Including Complex Numerically-Controlled Oscillators (NCOs)
- 16x Programmable Finite Impulse Response Filters (pFIRs)
- 16x RF Transmit (Tx) Channels (32x Digital Tx Channels)
- Total 16x 3GSPS to 12GSPS DAC
- 48x Digital Up Converters (DUCs) , Each Including Complex Numerically-Controlled Oscillators (NCOs)
- Flexible Rx & Tx RF Front-Ends
- Rx: Filtering, Amplification, Digital Step Attenuation for Gain Control
- Tx: Filtering, Amplification
- On-Board Power Regulation from Single 12V Power Adapter (Included)
- Flexible Clock Distribution
- On-Board Clock Distribution from Single External 500MHz Reference
- Support for External Converter Clock per MxFE
- Mates to Quad-MxFE Digitizing Card & VCU118 PMOD Interface (Cable Included)
- Provides Both Individual Adjacent Channel Loopback and Combined Channel Loopback Options
- Combined Tx Channels Out Via SMA Option
- Combined Rx Channels In Via SMA Option
- On-Board Log Power Detectors With AD5592R Output To VCU118 Over PMOD
- On-Board Power Regulation from Single 12V Power Adapter (Included)
Easy Control Tools and Platform Interfaces to Simplify Software Framework Developments:
- IIO Oscilloscope GUI
- MATLAB Add-Ons & Example Scripts
- Example HDL Builds including JESD204b/JESD204c Bring-Up
- Embedded Software Solutions for Linux and Device Drivers
- MATLAB System Applications GUI
- Multi-Chip Synchronization for Power-Up Phase Determinism
- System-Level Amplitude/Phase Alignment Using NCOs
- Low-Latency ADC-to-DAC Loopback Bypassing JESD Interface
- pFIR Control for Broadband Channel-to-Channel Amplitude/Phase Alignment
- Fast-Frequency Hopping
- Calibration Board MATLAB Driver File
- FPGA Programming MATLAB Script
Product Details
The Quad-MxFE System Development Platform contains four MxFE® software defined, direct RF sampling transceivers, as well as associated RF front-ends, clocking, and power circuitry. The target application is phased array radars, electronic warfare, and ground-based SATCOM, specifically a 16 transmit/16 receive channel direct sampling phased array at L/S/C band (0.1 GHz to ~5GHz). The Rx & Tx RF front-end has drop-in configurations that allow for customized frequency ranges, depending on the user’s application.
The Quad-MxFE System Development Platform highlights a complete system solution. It is intended as a testbed for demonstrating multi-chip synchronization as well as the implementation of system level calibrations, beamforming algorithms, and other signal processing algorithms. The system is designed to mate with a VCU118 Evaluation Board from Xilinx®, which features the Virtex® UltraScale+™ XCVU9P FPGA, with provided reference software, HDL code, and MATLAB system-level interfacing.
In addition to the Quad-MxFE Digitizing Card, the kit also contains a 16Tx / 16Rx Calibration Board that is used to develop system-level calibration algorithms, or otherwise more easily demonstrate power-up phase determinism in situations pertinent to their own use case. The Calibration Board also allows the user to demonstrate combined-channel dynamic range, spurious, and phase noise improvements and can also be controlled via a free MATLAB add-on when connected to the PMOD interface of the VCU118.
The system can be used to enable quick time-to-market development programs for applications like:
- ADEF (Phased-Array, RADAR, EW, SATCOM)
- Communications Infrastructure (Multiband 5G and mmWave 5G)
- Electronic Test and Measurement
Getting Started
System Requirements
- Reference Oscillator or Waveform Generator (500MHz)
Get a fixed 500MHz (Wenzel) - Ethernet Cable (Digi Key)
- USB to Ethernet Dongle (Digi Key)
- 2x USB micro cables
Included with VCU118 kit - 12V (9A+ capability) Wall Supply:
AC/DC Desktop Adapter 12V 150W (Digi Key)
Cord 14AWG NEMA5-15P - IEC320 3' (Digi Key) - SMA Cables (50 Ω)
- 2x MMCX-SMA cables (included with Quad MxFE Board Kit) (Digi Key)
- 32x MMCX-MMCX cables (2 cables included with ADQUADMXFE-CAL) (Samtec)
- Fan (AC INFINITY)
- VCU118 FPGA Board (Avnet)
- FMC+ Extender
- Board Standoffs
Standoff on McMaster (McMASTER-CARR)
Screw on Digikey (Digi Key)
Documentation & Resources
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Quad-MxFE Root User Guide3/2/2021WIKI
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Quad-MXFE Multi-Chip Synchronization Guide2/2/2021WIKI
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Quad-MxFE Quick Start Guide2/2/2021WIKI
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Quad-MxFE Calibration Board User Guide2/2/2021WIKI
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Quad-MxFE Board Hardware User Guide2/2/2021WIKI
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A Measurement Summary of Distributed Direct Sampling S-Band Receivers for Phased Arrays2/10/2022
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Empirically Based Multichannel Phase Noise Model Validated in a 16-Channel Demonstrator10/1/2021
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Integrated Hardened DSP on DAC/ADC ICs Improves Wideband Multichannel Systems5/1/2021
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Power-Up Phase Determinism Using Multichip Synchronization Features in Integrated Wideband DACs and ADCs10/1/2020
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Pricing displayed is based on 1-piece.
Pricing displayed is based on 1-piece. The USA list pricing shown is for budgetary use only, shown in United States dollars (FOB USA per unit), and is subject to change. International prices may vary due to local duties, taxes, fees and exchange rates.