Dual Digital Transceiver with Wideband Digital Downconverter Core and Interpolation Filter - Pentek Model 7140-420

Pentek recently released its new software radio system, the Model 7140-420 Dual Digital Transceiver with Wideband Digital Downconverter (DDC) Core and Interpolation Filter. This transceiver is suitable for a wide range of applications including military/commercial communications systems, radar systems, and signal intelligence systems.

Pentek Model 7140-420 Dual Digital Transceiver

Features:

• Complete software radio transceiver solution
• Improved dynamic range
• Dual GateFlow Core 420, high-performance wideband DDCs and interpolation filter factory-installed
• Extended DDC decimation range to 8 to 1,048,576
• Extended DDC bandwidth range of 10 MHz to 76.3 Hz
• Extended DUC interpolation range of 2 to 16,384
• Extended DUC bandwidth range of 40 MHz to 4.88 kHz
• Core 420 is also available for Models 7240, 7340 and 7640
• Ruggedized version available (Model 7141-703)

Rodger Hosking, Pentek, said:

We expanded the capability of the basic hardware ASICs on the board with the GateFlow FPGA IP Core 420, which adds high-performance wideband DDCs and an interpolation filter. This enhanced product is far more powerful than the original, operating over a wider range of bandwidths - at both the input and the output…

…Pentek is proud of this industry-first installation of IP cores in an off-the-shelf module to extend the original decimation and interpolation by more than three orders of magnitude.

The new transceiver handles a range of input and output signal bandwidths from 4.8 kHz to 40 MHz. The GateFlow Core 420 includes a two-channel, wideband DDC IP core that complements the multiband GC4016 ASIC from Texas Instruments. This DDC can be driven directly from the A/D converters to achieve decimations from 2 to 64 for signal bandwidths up to 40 MHz. The GateFlow Core 420 DDC can also be driven from the outputs of the TI’s GC4016, providing a maximum decimation of 1,048,576 to handle extremely low bandwidth signals down to 76 Hz.

On the Upconverter side, an IP core interpolation filter boosts the sampling rate of real or complex signals by a factor of 16 to 1024, programmable in steps of 2. Acting as a pre-processing stage for the Texas Instruments DAC5686 Digital Up Converter, the core extends the overall interpolation range for the module so it is now programmable from 2 to 16,384. Consequently, with a 100 MHz output sample rate, the module now accepts baseband transmit signal bandwidths that can range from 40 MHz down to about 4.8 kHz.

Pentek's ReadyFlow Board Support Libraries and C-callable device functions simplify board operation and setup with easy-to-use function calls. ReadyFlow libraries offer flexibility and provide low-level access to all of the board's hardware.

Pentek support libraries, device drivers and software development tools, plus third-party offerings, are all available for a variety of platforms, including PCs running Linux or Windows 2000/XP and PowerPCs running Linux, eCos, and VxWorks.

All these software resources allow full control of all new features of the GateFlow Core 420, including configuration of the data flow into and out of the new IP cores and full access to operating parameters like interpolation and decimation factors, filter coefficients, data formatting, and modes of operation.

The new dual digital transceiver is also available in a variety of form factors including PCI, 3U and 6U cPCI, as well as a PMC/XMC conduction-cooled version.

The Model 7140-420 Dual Digital Transceiver module's prices start at US$11,995 for PMC version.

More info: Pentek’s  Model 7140-420 Dual Digital Transceiver module