Digital-to-analog converter for signal processing

TEK Microsystems Inc. in Chelmsford, Mass., and QinetiQ of Malvern, England, are offering the Triton VXS-1 that combines field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) technology with a 12-bit, 2-gigasamples-per-second digital-to-analog converter and a 10-bit 2-gigasample-per-second analog to digital converter. Triton VXS-1 provides a 16× improvement in currently available resolution for signal-processing applications. The 6U VME/VXS card enables radar, beamforming, electronic-warfare, and electronic-countermeasures developers to design solutions that operate in noisy environments. In addition, the digital processing system moves closer to the front end of the overall system thus eliminating unreliable RF components. Triton VXS-1 combines high signal bandwidth with on-board FPGA processing. Using A-Ds and D-As from Atmel provides capabilities for signal environments where jamming or high levels of interference may occur. Enhanced channel-to-channel synchronization between Triton and multiple Neptune 2 cards supports applications requiring as many as 32 channels to remain coherent to within one sample. The precise synchronization between A-D and D-A channels means that active systems can have very low latency between the sampled input and the corresponding output. This benefits electronic-warfare and radar systems, as the phase jitter on output signals will be reduced, leading to higher-fidelity transmitted signals. For more information contact TEK Microsystems online at www.tekmicro.com.