UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., 13 April 2009Pentek's Model 7190 multifrequency clock synthesizer offers designers working with A/Ds and D/As an extraordinarily high performance, highly precise source of clock signals in an unusually small PMC format defense applications such as radar.
When synchronous sampling is not required, and when sampling rates and bit counts are relatively low, A/D and D/A systems are often clocked by on-board oscillators. However, for larger, multichannel radar and beamforming systems, synchronous sampling is mandatory. In addition, as new A/Ds achieve 16-bit resolution and exceed sampling rates of 200 MHz, a far more functional, flexible, and precise clock is required. The introduction of Pentek's 7190 multifrequency clock synthesizer fills this void as a highly precise and pure clock source, at a price approximately an order of magnitude less than alternative solutions.
"The 7190 can play a crucial role in systems where superb performance is a must," says Rodger Hosking, vice president of Pentek. "In many cases, the 7190 module frees the customer from having to devise a custom clock generation scheme. What's more, most other alternate clock source solutions are bulky and are not well suited for deployment. As a PMC module, the 7190 delivers a compact, clean, and flexible clock solution for fielded systems, with performance rivaling the best oscillators in the lab."
"The clock source is one of the most important components of any digital signal processing, data acquisition, or recording system. In these applications, accuracy and purity of the sample clock are critical and the connection to a very high precision source is essential," says Mark Wilson, general manager of clocks and timing products at Texas Instruments. "We are pleased that Pentek chose Texas Instrument's CDC7005 high-performance, low phase noise clock synchronizer to dramatically reduce the amount of jitter in the Model 7190 output clocks," Wilson adds.
A key feature of the 7190 is that all eight output clocks are phase locked to an external frequency reference, typically 5 or 10 MHz. It uses four TI CDC7005 Clock synchronizers, each controlling a quad frequency voltage controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO).
Each CDC7005 is programmed to select any one of its four VCXO frequencies, providing a total of sixteen different VCXO frequencies for the board. Each of these frequencies can then be divided by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16, resulting in 80 different clock frequency choices. As many as five different frequencies from this set can be delivered to the eight front-panel SMC output connectors, or a single identical clock can be sent to all eight outputs. Numerous other combinations are also possible, depending upon the specific configuration of the A/D and D/A boards.
The 7190 is also equipped with a nonvolatile memory. Once it is configured, the settings will return to the saved configuration each time it is powered up. Once a configuration is saved, the 7190 does not require PCI access, which is quite convenient for deployed applications that might not include a host computer.
Because PMC is a standard form factor for embedded systems, the 7190 is easily adaptable to many different architectures. Utilizing PMC carrier boards, the 7190 can be transformed into a VME or CompactPCI (3U or 6U) board. In addition, inserting the 7190 into Pentek's PCI or PCIe (PCIexpress) carriers enable the 7190 to be used in a desktop computer.
The 7190 is supported with a ReadyFlow Board Support Package running under Linux, Windows or VxWorks operating systems.The price of the Model 7190 multifrequency clock synthesizer is $2,495 USD. Delivery is 8 to 10 weeks ARO.
