TI offers industry's smallest, lowest power dual, 500-MSPS DACs, reduces the cost of wideband transmit systems

DALLAS, USA: Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) is reducing the bill of materials for wideband transmit systems with new dual, 500-MSPS digital-to-analog converters (DACs) starting at less than $10 in 1,000 unit quantities.

The 12-bit DAC3162 and 10-bit DAC3152 are the smallest, least-expensive and lowest-power devices in their class and were designed for wideband transmit systems, such as wireless base stations, software defined radio, point-to-point microwave, e-band radio and portable test equipment.

Key features and benefits
* Lowest power consumption by at least 30 percent extends the battery life of portable devices. At 500 MSPS, the DAC3162 uses only 135 mW per channel with 20 mA output current and 67 mW per channel with 2-mA output current.
* Small 7-mm x 7-mm QFN package cuts board space requirements by 50 percent compared to the next smallest dual, 500-MSPS DAC solution.
* Pin-for-pin compatibility makes it easy to achieve 12- or 10-bit resolution and cost flexibility without board or software changes.
* Simplified interface eliminates the need for the serial peripheral interface (SPI).

Samples of the DAC3162 and DAC3152 are available today in a 48-pin, 7-mm x 7-mm QFN package. Production quantities are expected in November 2011. 1,000-unit pricing will start at $12.60 for the DAC3162 and $9.15 for the DAC3152.

TI also offers evaluation modules (EVMs) for the DAC3162 and DAC3152, complete with a transceiver chain that includes the CDCP1803 clock buffer and TRF370333 quadrature modulator. These new EVMs are fully compatible with TI's TSW3100 pattern generator module for rapid evaluation. The DAC3162EVM and DAC3152EVM are available now, priced at $199.