Fast 16-bit digital-to-analog converter at 1.5 GSPS

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) introduced a new 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The quad DAC34SH84 is 50-percent faster and uses 50-percent less power than the closest 16-bit DAC alternative, clocking in at 1.5 GSPS and consuming just 362 mW per channel. The DAC34SH84 provides an easy, pin-compatible upgrade from the 1.25-GSPS DAC34H84 for customers wanting to maximize speed in 3G, LTE, GSM and WiMAX wireless base stations and repeaters; microwave point-to-point radio; software defined radio; and waveform generation systems.

Key features and benefits of the DAC34SH84

• Increased bandwidth: 750-MSPS-per-DAC input rate supports up to 600-MHz complex bandwidth for fifth order linearization of 120 MHz – three times wider than the competition when running at maximum sample rates.
• Frequency agility: 2x to 16x interpolation and two independent, 32-bit numerically controlled oscillators lower the interface rate and cost of FPGAs while providing flexibility in frequency planning.
• RF sideband image suppression: On-chip calibration of complete RF transmit path suppresses sideband and local oscillator feed-through while driving IQ modulators, such as the new TRF3705.

Evaluation kits available.

Texas Instruments Inc.
www.ti.com

Genesys Software Enhances RF System Design

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) announced the latest release of its low-cost, high-performance software for RF and microwave board design, Genesys 2012. The updated software provides enhancements in RF system simulation (including electromagnetic, circuit and statistical simulation), plus features to help designers improve the reliability of their systems.

Genesys 2012 simplifies analysis of RF systems with multi-stage conversions that enable system architects to easily visualize spurious signals across a broad frequency sweep.

Along with its unique root-cause-analysis capabilities, the software now gives RF designers unprecedented power to quickly determine the source and path of spurious frequencies across the entire frequency range of the system. This enables efficient troubleshooting of the system architecture and frequency plan during system design, before hardware implementation. That, in turn, eliminates costly hardware rework during system integration.

The 2012 release delivers significant improvements to the planar EM simulator Momentum GXF, including a quadrangle mesher to efficiently mesh a planar layout with the fewest number of unknowns. The result is a fast, high-capacity EM solution. The tool also provides a one-click link to Agilent’s EMPro software for immediate full 3-D EM simulation without having to redraw the structure, assign material properties or port locations.

Genesys 2012 provides expansive coverage of circuit synthesis applications to tackle tough designs such as custom notched filters and wideband matching networks. It enhances accuracy and convergence to its circuit simulators by incorporating passivity enforcement in passive models. Monte Carlo statistical analysis results can now be exported into a spreadsheet for further analysis and reporting.

Agilent Technologies Inc.
www.agilent.com

PCB Design, Bringing It All Together

Joe Gorse, EE editor.

For anyone who has ever turned a PCB it is an obvious thing to ask for but we have all just stopped asking because one might die before it ever occurred: Integration between part manufacturer, distributor, PCB house, and PCB design tools into a development environment for the engineer. The esoteric electronic design automation (EDA) tools for the printed circuit boards of today could use some help. And that is putting it nicely.

In 2007, Sunstone Circuits resolved to pursue higher levels of integration within EDA to better serve their customers. But to do so would require collaboration within the traditionally fractious and competitive world of electronics. They invited the then-unlikely cast of characters to the table and made the pitch to integrate their tools and services for the engineer. 4 years later, in 2011, on my way to ESC Boston I attended a press briefing with Sunstone and partners on their collaborative Circuit Design ECOsystem (CDE), the integrated environment for the PCB developer.

The members of this fellowship are currently Digi-Key, NXP, National Instruments, Screaming Circuits, and Sunstone Circuits.

Roles of each member of the CDE are as follows.

Digi-Key provides real-time pricing and availability for components of the design.

NXP provides access to manufacturer-verified library definitions, datasheets, and simulation models, with the goal that the parts are fully specified within the design before it leaves the CAD tool.

National Instruments provides circuit simulation through NI Multisim while the engineers who use NI’s circuit development environment will benefit from the integration of the PCB development cycle.

Screaming Circuits provides quick-turn PCB fabrication and assembly.

Sunstone provides PCB fabrication, 24/7/365 live support, and the founding leadership behind the CDE.

Throughout the press briefing each member described the company performance, role in the ECOsystem, and next steps. Everyone indicated that business was going well, profits were healthy, and interest in the CDE remained firm. As the meeting progressed, the ramifications emerged and I asked: How can we get this to work?

We discussed the challenges that come with integration of engineering tools, particularly communication, standardization, and scaling.

I could see the Circuit Design ECOsystem approach mature into an intuitive process so that engineers can focus more on what they want to do as opposed to how they need to do it. For instance, “I want to have a switch to control this indicator” as opposed to “wondering whether or not the 3-pin FET package I chose has the right pinout for the 3-pin FETs I ordered in bulk, did I lay this part out on the top or the bottom, am I looking at the top or bottom layer, from which direction am I looking at what layer, which pin is the gate again?” It should not be possible to layout the wrong part after choosing what you wanted in the schematic, which should then guarantee its availability and cost through a distributor such as Digi-Key. This requires communication between the EDA tools and the manufacturer to mine the metadata of the part, which may be accomplished through a distributor that aggregates the data or through all the manufacturers that want their parts to get used in 21st+ century designs. Either way, it behooves everyone to build and agree upon a set of standards before running in N directions and never quite solving any problem better than the pencil and paper equivalent.

As it is now, Sunstone Circuits’ PCB123 is fairly well integrated with Digi-Key. You may select parts that exist in Digi-Key’s inventory, refresh live pricing, build the BOM, and actually place the order from within the program. The Circuit Design ECOsystem website is a bit bare, though it contains some useful links to the partner sites for the relevant step in the design process. For instance, under Part Research you will see NXP with a link to their product selector and Digi-Key with a link to buy parts; Circuit Design you will see PCB123 and NI MultiSim; Fabrication & Assembly you will see Sunstone Circuits for board quotes and Screaming Circuits for prototype assembly; and so on. Walking through the design and order process on CDE, it does not yet automatically populate the Digi-Key order page from your BOM or design files.

Exciting but difficult work ahead for the prototype ECOsystem crew as they look ahead to future-proof the system and prepare for scaling up when they engage more partners into the ECOsystem. I am looking forward to what they do next.

Circuit Design ECOsystem
http://www.circuitdesignecosystem.com/

Digi-Key
http://www.digikey.com/

NXP
http://www.nxp.com/

Screaming Circuits
http://www.screamingcircuits.com/

National Instruments
http://www.ni.com/

Sunstone Circuits
http://www.sunstone.com/