ADL8100

The ADL8100ACPZN-EVALZ and ADL8100ACPZN-EVAL1Z are 2-layer printed circuit boards (PCB) fabricated from 10 mil thick, Rogers 4350B, copper clad, mounted to an aluminum heat spreader. The heat spreader assists in providing thermal relief to the device as well as mechanical support to the PCB. Mounting holes on the heat spreader allow attachment to larger heat sinks for improved thermal management.

The RFIN and RFOUT ports on the ADL8100ACPZN-EVALZ and ADL8100ACPZN-EVAL1Z are populated with 2.9 mm, female coaxial connectors, and the respective RF traces have a 50 Ω characteristic impedance. The ADL8100ACPZN-EVALZ and ADL8100ACPZN-EVAL1Z are populated with components suitable for use over the entire −40°C to +85°C operating temperature range.

To calibrate out board trace losses, a through calibration path, THRUCAL, is provided between the THRUCAL connectors (J1 and J2). THRUCAL must be populated with RF connectors to use the through calibration path.

The power voltages and ground path are accessed through surface- mounted technology (SMT) test points.

An external wideband bias tee must be connected to RFOUT of the ADL8100ACPZN-EVALZ to provide bias current and AC coupling on RFOUT. The BT2-0040 from Marki Microwave is recommended. The ADL8100ACPZN-EVAL1Z has an on-board SMT bias tee.

For full details on the ADL8100, see the ADL8100 data sheet, which must be consulted in conjunction with the user guide when using the ADL8100ACPZN-EVALZ and ADL8100ACPZN-EVAL1Z.

• Multi-Channel, Wideband System Development Platform Using Apollo (AD9084)
• Mates With Xilinx VCU118 Evaluation Board (Not Included)
• 16x RF Receive (Rx) Channels
• Total 16x 8GSPS to 20GSPS ADC
• Digital Down Converters (DDCs), Each Including Complex Numerically-Controlled Oscillators (NCOs)
• Programmable Finite Impulse Response Filters (pFIRs)
• Complex Finite Impulse Response Filters (CFIRs)
• 16x RF Transmit (Tx) Channels
• Total 16x 8GSPS to 28GSPS DAC
• Digital Up Converters (DUCs), Each Including Complex Numerically-Controlled Oscillators (NCOs)
• Programmable Finite Impulse Response Filters (pFIRs)
• Complex Finite Impulse Response Filters (CFIRs)
• Flexible Rx & Tx RF Front-Ends
• Rx: Filtering, Amplification, Digital Step Attenuation for Gain Control
• Tx: Filtering, Amplification
• Flexible Clock Distribution
• On-Board Clock Distribution from Single External 400MHz Reference
• Support for External Converter Clock per AD9084 via solder rework
• On-Board Power Regulation from Single 12V Power Adapter (Included)

• Mates to ADXBAND16EBZ Digitizing Card & VCU118 PMOD Interface (Cable Included)
• Provides Both Individual Adjacent Channel Loopback and Combined Channel Loopback Options
• Combined Tx Channels Out Option
• Combined Rx Channels In Option

Easy Control Tools and Platform Interfaces to Simplify Software Framework Developments:

• IIO Oscilloscope GUI
• MATLAB Add-Ons & Example Scripts
• Example HDL Builds including JESD204C Bring-Up
• Embedded Software Solutions for Linux and Device Drivers

• 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

The ADXBAND16EBZ contains four AD9084 mixed‑signal front‑end devices, including the RF front end, clocking, and power circuitry. The ADXBAND16EBZ serves as a complete system solution targeting common applications such as phased‑array radars, wideband systems, and ground‑based SATCOM. Its primary target application is a 16‑Tx/16‑Rx direct X‑band sampling phased array.

The platform is intended as a testbed for demonstrating multi‑chip synchronization, as well as implementing system‑level calibrations, beamforming algorithms, and other signal‑processing techniques. The system is designed to interface with the VCU118 Evaluation Board from Xilinx^®, which features the Virtex^® UltraScale+™ XCVU9P FPGA, along with provided reference software, HDL code, and MATLAB system‑level interfaces.

A 16‑Tx/16‑Rx Calibration Board can be used to develop system‑level calibration algorithms, including demonstrations of power‑up phase determinism. The Calibration Board provides improvements in combined‑channel dynamic range, spurious performance, and phase noise, and can be controlled via a MATLAB add‑on when connected to the PMOD interface of the VCU118.