Pentek introduces high-speed data converter today at Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum
SAN DIEGO, 11 March 2008.Pentek Inc. in Upper Saddle River, N.J., introduced its Model 7150 high-speed data converter for detecting very small signals across a wide range of frequencies today at the Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum conference and trade show in San Diego.
The Model 7150 has four 200 MHz, 16-bit A-D converters and a pair of Xilinx Virtex-5 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs.) The 7150 connects to the RF or IF inputs of a communications system in a PMC/XMC module. The device has sampling rates as fast as 200 MHz and 16 bits of resolution.
The 7150 stands apart from competing products on the market because its unique architecture combines the faster and higher precision DSP slices in the two Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs with four 200 MHz, 16-bit A-D converters offering increased resolution and wider signal bandwidths. This combination is ideal for anyone seeking to detect very small signals across a wide range of frequencies.
"The boost in sampling rate to 200 MHz means that users will be able to directly digitize nearly 100 MHz of bandwidth -- invaluable for engineers working on wideband radar and wideband communication systems," says Rodger Hosking, Pentek's vice-president.
"The innovative design of the 7150 assigns strategic functions to Virtex-5 FPGAs for optimum performance," Hosking says. "One is dedicated to interface connectivity and the other towards real-time signal processing, and both FPGAs are available in different sizes and types."
The dual FPGA architecture of the 7150 simplifies task assignments and boosts efficiency for each device. The processing FPGA handles data flow and data routing, controls all clock and synchronization functions, and manages memory resources.
The interface FPGA is responsible for providing the board's system connectivity through a PCI-X or optional PCIe interface. By assigning the board interfaces and the associated resources to this second FPGA, the processing FPGA can be kept free to performing the processing tasks it is designed for.
Because Xilinx maintains a consistent pin configuration among its various Virtex-5 family devices, different sizes and family types of the Virtex-5 family can be substituted on the Model. For more information contact Pentek online at www.pentek.com.
