Dual ADCs save up to 40% board space

The industry's first device to integrate two 14bit ADCs on a single chip is the flagship device in a new family of high-speed dual ADCs offered in a range of resolutions and speeds.

Analog Devices claims to have developed the industry's first 14bit dual analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC), integrating two 14bit ADCs on a single chip.

This innovative IC is the flagship device in a new family of high-speed dual ADCs offered in a range of resolutions and speeds.

Housed in space-saving 9 x 9mm chip-scale packages (CSPs), the pin-compatible family provides resolutions of 10, 12 and 14bit at speeds of 20 to 105Msample/s.

Their unique combination of high speed, high resolution, and compact packaging allows design engineers to use only one chip to achieve the performance of multiple high-speed convertors.

The dual ADCs are ideal for applications that require multiple ADC channels to transfer data at very high speeds, such as 3G wireless basestations, high-end medical and defence imaging systems, and satellite communications.

"Analog Devices is responding to today's demands for highly flexible, low-cost design solutions that can support a wide variety of systems", said Kevin Kattmann, Product Line Director for High-Speed Converters, Analog Devices.

"Thanks to their small footprint, these ADCs can save up to 40% board space".

"In addition, this pin-compatible family expands our extensive ADC portfolio, which offers customers quick and easy access to the right data convertor at the right cost".

The new family of dual ADCs in CSP packaging includes the following ICs.

The AD9248 is the industry's first 14bit dual ADC supporting speeds from 20 to 65Msample/s with a low power consumption of 300mW per channel at 65Msample/s.

The AD9238 is a 12bit dual ADC offering speeds from 20 to 65Msample/s, and consuming a low 300mW per channel at 65Msample/s.

And the AD9216 is a 10bit dual ADC with speed grades ranging from 65 to 105Msample/s.

At 105Msample/s, this ADC consumes 150mW per channel.

Today's 3G wireless basestations manufacturers are looking to deploy cost-effective single- and multi-carrier direct-conversion radio architectures.

They also seek main/diversity IF sampling architectures to enable them to expand coverage with macrocell, microcell and picocell units.

These basestations often require conversion speeds over 60Msample/s.

With 12 and 14bit resolutions operating up to 65Msample/s, the AD9238 and AD9248 are ideal for creating high-performance receiver solutions that match channel performance and channel isolation while conserving radio card space.

At the lower end of their sample-rate spectrum, the AD9238 and AD9248 are well suited to high-resolution imaging systems requiring sample speeds of 20Msample/s, such as night-vision systems, and some medical imaging systems.

To deliver the finest imagery, these systems often use multiple ADCs, therefore low power and a small footprint are critical to ensuring performance while keeping system costs low.

For applications requiring sample rates of 105Msample/s, such as radio point-to-point/cellular backhaul systems and satellite communications, the 10bit AD9216 provides the most cost-efficient solution.

These systems, which are built on custom versions of QPSK (quadrature phase shift keying) or up to 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), use lower levels of modulation than base stations and therefore require a higher sampling rate to accommodate the high datarates travelling between point-to-point antennas.

The AD9248, AD9238 and AD9216 ADCs feature dual high-performance sample-and-hold amplifiers (SHAs) and integrated voltage references.

They use a multistage differential pipelined architecture with output error correction logic to provide 10, 12 and 14bit accuracy, and guarantee no missing codes over the full operating temperature range (-40 to +85C) at up to the specified sample rate.

The wide-bandwidth differential SHA allows for a variety of user selectable input ranges and offsets, including single-ended applications.

They are suitable for various applications including multiplexed systems that switch full-scale voltage levels in successive channels and for sampling inputs at frequencies well beyond the Nyquist rate (half the sample rate).

The AD9248, AD9238 and AD9216 are sampling now with production quantities available in September 2004.

Pricing for the AD9216, AD9238 and AD9248 begins at $9.25, $13.15 and $22.95, respectively, in 1000-piece quantities for the slowest speed grades.

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