Nat Semi intros dual 16-bit, 160-MSPS pipeline A/D converter

USA: National Semiconductor Corp. has introduced the industry’s first dual-channel 16-bit, 160 mega-samples per second (MSPS) pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

With two high-speed channels, the ADC16DV160 offers system designers the world’s best dynamic performance and smallest footprint (10 mm by 10 mm) to reduce system size, design complexity and development costs. The ADC16DV160 is targeted at multi-carrier, multi-standard GSM/EDGE, WCDMA, LTE and WiMAX wireless base stations.

The ADC16DV160 consumes less than half the power per ADC channel (650 mW) compared to competing single-channel 16-bit 160-MSPS pipeline ADCs, while offering the largest input-bandwidth (1.4 GHz) and the industry’s best dynamic performance at high input frequencies.

The ADC16DV160 delivers 91.2 decibels full scale (dBFS) spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR), 76.3 dBFS signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 97.3 dBFS higher-order harmonic distortion at 197 MHz input frequency.

The ADC16DV160’s industry-leading dynamic performance enables increased basestation capacity and coverage, allowing service providers to reach more customers and deliver a higher quality of service.

The ADC16DV160’s energy efficiency reduces system power dissipation and relaxes basestation power management circuitry requirements. This increases overall system reliability and reduces system cooling requirements.

The ADC16DV160 operates on dual power supplies, 1.8V and 3.0V, with power-down and fast recovery, and features industry-standard dual low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) outputs for interfacing to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Evaluation board and tools accelerate signal path development
An evaluation board interfaces directly with National’s WaveVision 5 software and data capture board to simplify and accelerate evaluation of the ADC16DV160. The WaveVision 5 system is a data acquisition and analysis tool designed to help users evaluate National’s signal path products.

The ADC16DV160 can be teamed with the dual-channel LMH6517 digitally-controlled variable gain amplifier (DVGA) or the LMH6554 fully differential amplifier. By adding the LMX2541 frequency synthesizer or one of National’s LMK04000 family of clock jitter cleaners, a system designer can form a complete signal path solution.

The ADC16DV160 is supplied in a 68-pin LLP package and is priced at $140 each in 1,000-unit quantities. The ADC is sampling now with production quantities scheduled for late fourth quarter 2009.