Analog Devices announces industry’s fastest 16-bit ADC at 250 MSPS

NORWOOD, USA: Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) has unveiled the industry’s fastest 16-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converter)--at 250 MSPS (mega samples per second).

The AD9467 16-bit, 250 MSPS ADC operates on 35 percent less power at 25% higher sampling rate than any other 16-bit data converter, providing a new level of signal processing performance for test and measurement instrumentation, defense electronics, and communications applications where high resolution over a wide bandwidth is needed.

The AD9467 delivers resolution and a fast sample rate while simultaneously achieving a high SFDR (spurious-free dynamic range) of up to 100 dBFs and SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) performance of 76.4 dBFS.

The device’s SFDR of 90 dBFS up to 300 MHz analog input and 60-femtosecond rms (root mean square) jitter helps lower the signal chain bill of materials component count by allowing engineers to increase system performance at higher intermediate frequencies, thereby reducing the number of signal down-conversion stages. Download data sheet or order samples and evaluation boards.

“We needed a 16-bit, 250 MSPS data converter with 90 db of SFDR for one of our key customer's highly advanced, data acquisition systems,” said Brian Kimball, principal hardware engineer, Mercury Computer Systems, a leading provider of open, application-ready, multi-INT subsystems for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance market.

“The AD9467 data converter was designed into this system because it met our customer’s SFDR, ENOB (effective number of bits), and power requirements. Analog Devices engineers worked with us as trusted advisors to provide early-access silicon and provided design support to enable the timely development of our prototype product.”

The AD9467 can be used with ADI’s AD9523/24 low-jitter clock generators and ADL5562 3.3 GHz ultra-low distortion RF/IF differential amplifier to provide a data conversion signal chain solution.

“The AD9467 converter is attractive to National Instruments because of its industry-leading combination of sample rate and resolution,” said Phil Hester, senior vice president of R&D, National Instruments.

“We are currently developing a module based on the AD9467 for our NI FlexRIO product family, which couples this new data conversion performance point with FPGAs that can be programmed using NI LabVIEW software. The AD9467 helps us maintain leadership in providing innovative solutions for test and measurement, software-defined radio, medical imaging, and scientific research applications.”