EVAL-AD916X

AD9161/AD9162/AD9163/AD9164 high speed RF DAC reference design.

Overview

The AD9161, AD9162, AD9163, and AD9164 is a high performance, 16-bit (AD9164, AD9163, AD9162)/11-bit (AD9161) resolution digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that supports data rates to 6 GSPS.

The DAC core is based on a quad-switch architecture coupled with a 2x interpolator filter that enables an effective DAC update rate of up to 12 GSPS in some modes. The high dynamic range and bandwidth makes this DAC ideally suited for the most demanding high speed radio frequency (RF) DAC applications.

The AD916x-FMC HDL reference design provides a validated path to evaluate JESD204 link bring-up, DAC data transport, and clocking on supported FPGA carriers.

The HDL design supports configurable JESD operation modes, lane rates, and device variants from a common build framework. For Linux bring-up, ADI Kuiper images and ADI Linux device trees are available for supported ZynqMP platforms.

Features:

• Full featured evaluation board for the AD9161, AD9162, AD9163, and AD9164

• Direct clocking vs. on-board clocking

• Showing RF modes of the DAC, including mixed mode and 2× NRZ

• NCO only mode

• JESD204B/C transmit path with configurable modes and lane rates

• Reference HDL flow on ZCU102

• Integrated DMA/data-offload based data path in HDL reference design

• Linux software enablement through ADI kernel drivers and device trees

• IIO-based remote evaluation from a host PC

Applications:

• Broadband communications systems

• Wireless communications infrastructure

• Instrumentation, automatic test equipment (ATE)

• Radars and jammers

Figure 1 EVAL-AD9162-FMCB Top

Figure 2 EVAL-AD9162-FMCB Bottom

Recommendations

People who follow the flow that is outlined, have a much better experience with things. However, like many things, documentation is never as complete as it should be. If you have any questions, feel free to ask on our EngineerZone forums, but before that, please make sure you read our documentation thoroughly.

To better understand the AD9161, AD9162, AD9163, and AD9164, we recommend to use the EVAL-AD916X-FMCZ evaluation board.

Table of Contents

1. Using the evaluation board/full stack reference design that we offer:

   1. Prerequisites - what you need to get started with the setup

   2. Quickstart:

      1. Using the Using the AMD Xilinx ZCU102 with the EVAL-AD9162-FMC

   3. Linux Applications

      1. IIO Oscilloscope

2. Design with the AD9161/AD9162/AD9163/AD9164

   • AD9161 product page

   • AD9162 product page

   • AD9163 product page

   • AD9164 product page

   • Resources for designing a custom AD916X-based platform software:

     1. For Linux software:

        • AD9161/AD9162/AD9163/AD9164 Linux support

        • AD9162 IIO driver

        • AD916x IIO support

     2. HDL Software:

        • AD916x-FMC HDL project documentation

        • AD916x-FMC HDL source code

        • Build an HDL project

3. Evaluating the AD9161, AD9162, AD9163, and AD9164 High Speed, RF DACs

   Note

   This user guide uses the ADS7-V2EBZ platform (OBSOLETE).

4. Help and Support

Block Diagram

Figure 12 AD9161/AD9162 Block Diagram

Warning

All the products described on this page include ESD (electrostatic discharge) sensitive devices. Electrostatic charges as high as 4000V readily accumulate on the human body or test equipment and can discharge without detection. Although the boards feature ESD protection circuitry, permanent damage may occur on devices subjected to high-energy electrostatic discharges. Therefore, proper ESD precautions are recommended to avoid performance degradation or loss of functionality. This includes removing static charge on external equipment, cables, or antennas before connecting to the device.