Low-power, 12-bit and 14-bit data converters at 125, 105 and 80 MSPS provide ultimate system flexibility and space savings.

On April 16, 2007, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) introduced a new family of two- and four-channel 12-bit and 14-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) featuring high speed, low power and high performance housed in tiny 9mm x 9mm packages. This pin-compatible family offers designers an easy upgrade path with a range of resolutions, speed and performance options tailored to meet the requirements of advanced communications, radar and imaging, test and measurement, medical, and video applications.

“Today’s high-speed applications are demanding greater system density and performance while still providing low power consumption. Texas Instruments’ ADS6000 family delivers on these demands with pin-compatible, multi-channel ADCs that combine exceptional speed, performance, size and power,” said Art George, senior vice president of TI’s high-performance analog business unit. “By offering world-class support and tools for this leading technology, TI is enabling customers to realize new capabilities in applications that require multiple ADCs at high speeds.”

The ADS6000 family consists of dual and quad, 12-bit and 14-bit ADCs available in speeds of 80, 105 and 125 MSPS. Each device in the family delivers exceptional Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR), high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), high IF capability and low power per channel. By incorporating single- or dual-stream serialized LVDS outputs, the devices reduce board space by 60% compared to CMOS output solutions.

Through an SPI interface, the ADS6000 family provides programmable options such as coarse and fine gain controls to trade a small amount of SNR for a significant increase in SFDR at high IFs, enabling the customer to tailor the performance to the specific application requirements. Designers are also able to optimize the LVDS output configurations by adjusting the driver currents and internal termination resistors to reduce power consumption, improve signal integrity and ease data capture.

QUAD, 12-BIT, 125-MSPS ADS6425

The quad, 12-bit, 125-MSPS ADS6425 is the first in this family of products and provides high performance at 70.3dB SNR and 83dB SFDR at 50MHz IF in the nominal state, with the ability to reach 86dB SFDR through gain settings. The 14-bit, 125-MSPS ADS6445 provides an upgrade path for customers requiring higher resolution. Consuming only 410mW or 420mW per channel at 125 MSPS, the ADS6425 and ADS6445 allow higher system integration and greater flexibility as well as many other system benefits including:

  • Enhanced resolution for object tracking and discrimination in radar systems
  • High sample rate and resolution for increased bandwidth and advanced medical imaging capability
  • Higher performance, smaller form factor and extended battery life for portable test equipment
  • Improved sensitivity and reduced bill-of-materials for diversity receivers in wireless infrastructure
  • Increased density and sample rate for smaller form factors in high-end video equipment

Easy-to-use evaluation modules (EVMs) and deserializer cards available from TI provide quick and cost-effective evaluation to help customers speed the design process for quicker market penetration.

To further simplify design, TI offers a wide variety of parts to complete the signal chain. High-speed, low-noise amplifiers, such as the THS9001 and THS4509, allow the ADS6425 to operate to its full input bandwidth.

The CDCM7005 low-skew clock synchronizer provides low-jitter clocking to maximize SNR performance. For parallel transmission paths, TI can provide multi-channel digital-to-analog converters and digital up/down converters such as the DAC5672 and GC5016.

AVAILABILITY AND PACKAGING

The ADS6425 is available now in a 64-pin Quad Flat No-lead (QFN) package with samples, evaluation modules (EVMs) and deserializer solution. Pricing is listed above for each device in the family in 1,000-piece quantities. Samples of the remaining members of the family including serialized LVDS and parallel-output, dual ADCs are available now through the factory with volume production scheduled for the second half of 2007.

TI offers analog engineers a wide-ranging support infrastructure that includes training and seminars, design tools and utilities, technical documentation, evaluation modules, an online KnowledgeBase, a product information hotline and a comprehensive offering of samples that ship within 24 hours of request.

TRADEMARKS

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