Analog Devices Press Release - 3/16/2009

 Analog Devices 14-Bit Converter Performs Direct Digital Synthesis
for RF Signals to 3.6 GHz

ADI’s DAC architecture streamlines wideband communications design allowing wireless and broadband equipment to support multiple standards using a single direct-to-RF transmit core.

Visit Analog DevicesMarch 16, 2009, NORWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI), the global leader in data-conversion technology, today introduced a pair of 14-bit DACs (digital-to-analog converters) that perform direct digital synthesis for signals up to 3.6 GHz. These high-performance converters extend ADI’s industry-leading TxDAC® family of transmit digital-to-analog converters by delivering an unmatched combination of usable bandwidth and effective dynamic range to communications-equipment manufacturers worldwide.

The new AD9789 and AD9739 TxDACs feature ADI’s proprietary Mix-Mode™ super-Nyquist architecture, which supports high-fidelity digital synthesis of RF (radio frequency) signals up to 3.6 GHz. The combination of best-in-class bandwidth and dynamic range with a direct-to-RF core allows broadband and next-generation-wireless equipment designers to use a single transmit-DAC architecture for multiple communications standards while eliminating an off-chip mixer and low-pass filter to reduce design complexity, cost, size, and power. The mix-mode capability was introduced two years ago with the release of ADI’s AD974x and AD978x TxDAC product series.

“Given the demands that carriers are placing on broadband-communication systems, the ability to maximize usable bandwidth and dynamic range creates a clear advantage,” said Dave Robertson, product line director for high-speed signal-processing, Analog Devices. “Whether the system in question is today’s latest cable-infrastructure equipment or tomorrow’s advanced digital-radio design, high-performance data conversion is the key to unlocking the advantages of a true direct-to-RF transmit architecture.”

Multi-Standard Support for Cable and Wireless Infrastructure

The AD9789 14-bit TxDAC integrates a QAM encoder, interpolator, and digital up-converter that achieve a 2.4-GHz sample rate for cable infrastructure. The 2.5-GHz AD9739 exploits the same DAC core, features the industry’s widest useable input bandwidth, and is well suited for a broad range of applications including wireless-communications equipment, instrumentation, and defense electronics. Both devices provide multi-carrier capability up to the Nyquist frequency in baseband mode and use the mix-mode function to generate RF signals in the second and third Nyquist zones. This feature allows designers to eliminate a mixing stage, reducing component count and design complexity in direct-RF applications.

The AD9789 TxDAC shortens time-to-market for DOCSIS-III cable-infrastructure designs using low-cost FPGAs. The DAC includes a flexible digital interface that can accept up to four channels of complex data. The QAM encoder supports constellation sizes of 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 with SRRC (square-root raised cosine) filter coefficients for all standards. The on-chip rate converter supports a wide range of baud rates with a fixed DAC clock. The digital up-converter can place the channels from 0 to 0.5 fDAC, to synthesize up to four contiguous DOCSIS channels anywhere in the DOCSIS band. The AD9789 also includes an SPI (serial peripheral interface) port for device configuration and status-register readback. The flexible digital interface accommodates data bus widths from 4 bits to 32 bits and can accept either real or complex data. Configuration options can set the data path to bypass the QAM encoder and SRRC filter to enable the DAC to operate within a broader range of applications such as wireless infrastructure. The nominal DAC output current is 20 mA, which produces a peak 0-dBm of power into a 50-ohm load. The AD9789 operates from 1.5-V, 1.8-V, and 3.3-V supplies for a total power consumption of 1.7 W–half of competing signal chains’ power dissipation.

With breakthrough AC performance, the AD9739 14-bit TxDAC provides output signals to 3.6 GHz. The DAC features a dual-port low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) interface to support the high sample rate with existing FGPA and ASIC signal-processing technology. An SPI port is included for configuration and status-register read back. The output current is programmable from 8.7 mA to 31.7 mA. The AD9739 operates from 1.8-V and 3.3-V supplies for a total maximum power consumption of 1.1 W, which is a 25 percent reduction when compared with conventional transmit signal chains.
 
Pricing, Availability and Complementary Products

The AD9739 and AD9789 14-bit TxDACs are available now in volume production. Complementary products include ADI’s high-speed, low-jitter clock generation and distribution products, such as the ADCLK914 high-speed SiGe clock buffer. This product drives the clock input to the AD9739 and AD9789 DACs with a large 2-V differential swing that achieves jitter performance of 110 fs.
 
Product Sampling Price Each Per 1000 Packaging
AD9739
Now $43.69 160-Ball CSBGA
AD9789
Now $53.10 164-Ball CSBGA

For more information, visit http://www.analog.com/pr/AD9789 or http://www.analog.com/pr/AD9739.
 
Data Converters: Bridging the Analog and Digital Worlds

More designers turn to Analog Devices than any other supplier for the high-performance conversion technology required to bridge the analog and digital worlds in today’s myriad electronic systems. With the industry’s leading portfolio of ADCs (analog-to-digital converters) and DACs (digital-to-analog converters), Analog Devices’ converter products feature the right combination of sampling rates, accuracy, and reduced noise, power, price, and package size required in industrial and instrumentation, medical equipment, automotive systems, communications infrastructure, and consumer electronics. Online evaluation tools help customers quickly validate, select, and design in the optimal data converters to reduce design complexity, development schedules, and bill-of-material costs. To view ADI’s ADC selection guide, visit www.analog.com/ADCsearch. For ADC drivers, visit www.analog.com/ADCdrivers. To view ADI’s DAC selection guide, visit www.analog.com/DACsearch.

About Analog Devices, Inc.

Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the longest standing, highest growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged throughout the industry as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Celebrating over 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ADI” and is included in the S&P 500 Index.

For more information on ADI's most recent product releases, visit our Press Release home page.

 
Contacts

Analog Devices, Inc.
Bob Olson, 781-937-1666
bob.olson@analog.com

or

Porter Novelli
Andrew MacLellan, 617-897-8270
andrew.maclellan@porternovelli.com



Posted 3/16/2009