Pentek extends Quartz RFSoC family with RFSoC Gen 3 model
Defined by its RF performance, the Model 6003, QuartzXM eXpress module has been added to Pentek’s Quartz RFSoC family. It is based on the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Gen 3 and provides full sub-6GHz direct-RF I/O support. It is also claimed to offer greater flexibility with more decimation and interpolation options. The QuartzXM Model 6003 is for 5G and LTE wireless, signal integrity (SigInt), electronic warface, communications and radar applications in size, weight and power (SWaP) -critical environments.
Bob Sgandurra, Pentek’s director of product management, commented: “The modularity of our Quartz product line enables us to quickly provide solutions in any form factor needed — whether it’s in the lab or in a deployed application.”
The Model 6003 supports direct RF sampling using 5Gsamples per second 14-bit ADCs and eight 10 Gsamples per second 14-bit DACs, both supporting analogue signals up to 6GHz. Each data converter has built-in digital down converters or up converters with programmable decimation and interpolation up to 40x and independent tuning for increased RF flexibility and frequency planning.
Based on the Pentek Quartz architecture, all control and data paths are accessible by the RFSoC’s programmable logic and processing system. The Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Gen 3 integrates eight RF-class ADCs and DACs into the Zynq FPGA fabric together with quad Arm Cortex-A53 and dual Arm Cortex-R5 processors. The combination creates a multi-channel data conversion and processing solution on a single chip, says Pentek.
The QuartzXM complements the RFSoC’s on-chip resources, and adds wideband analogue RF connectors to preserve signal integrity, LVDS connections to the Zynq UltraScale+ FPGA for custom I/O, GTY connections for 28 Gbaud Gbit serial communication and 16Gbytes of DDR4 SDRAM. It also has all power supplies and clocking management needed by the RFSoC.
The QuartzXM Model 6003 is pre-loaded with a suite of Pentek IP modules to provide data capture and processing solutions for many common applications. Modules include DMA engines, DDR4 memory controller, test signal and metadata generators, data packing and flow control. The board comes pre-installed with IP for triggered waveform and radar chirp generation, triggered radar range gate engine, wideband real-time transient capture, flexible multi-mode data acquisition and extended decimation.
A design kit supports customers interested in building their own carrier for the QuartzXM Model 6003. The kit encapsulates all of Pentek’s electrical and mechanical design knowledge to accelerate application-specific carrier design. The kit includes a review of the customer’s design with Pentek’s engineering staff, pin definitions and electrical specifications of all signals on the module, 3D models of the module, thermal profiles of the module and components, carrier reference design schematics, PCB stack-up recommendations, PCB design guidelines and routing rules, operating system and bootstrap guidelines.
Pentek’s Navigator Design Suite includes: Navigator FPGA design kit (FDK) for custom IP and Navigator board support package (BSP) for creating host software applications.
The Navigator FDK includes the board’s entire FPGA design as a block diagram that can be graphically edited in Xilinx’s Vivado tool suite, with full source code and documentation.
