RF Engines has extended its range of digital down-converters to handle inputs at over 2Gsample/s.
The Isle of Wight firm specialises in implementing digital signal processing algorithms on FPGAs.
Its down-converter (DDC) range is RFEL's most flexible product, allowing users to set multiple down converted outputs on-the-fly from one algorithm, each having its own independent centre frequency and bandwidth.
A new generation of GHz ADCs inspired the DDC range extension. National Semiconductor offers 8bit 6Gsample/s devices, for example.
Having proved the DDC in undisclosed customer designs, said RFEL, it is now being offered generally.
"In this particular case we have been doing some design work for digital receiver designs with high-speed ADC that incorporated the technology," CEO John Summers told Electronics Weekly.
The algorithms are intended for use in high end FPGAs from Xilinx and Altera, although Summers emphasised that some less demanding instantiations will fit into mid-range devices.
"The expertise we have got here is in providing parallel processing, and scaling it," RFEL design engineer Wayne Cranwell told Electronics Weekly.
Some examples have been released, including a 27,292 LUT (look-up table) Stratix III design that takes in 2.2Gsample/s and can produce output bandwidths between 880MHz and 61.4kHz with band ripple under ±0.1dB and a spurious-free dynamic range of over 60dB.
Applications are expected in military electronic surveillance.
"A radar warning receiver can rapidly spot the signal signature of an incoming missile or other threat, and the down-converter will extract the specific signal and measure its parameters," said RFEL.
Satellite receivers are another possible use, as are radio telescopes where wide sections of spectrum to be monitored at one time in order to acquire weak or hidden signals.
An optional fractional re-sampling post-processor can be implemented on the same FPGA to exactly match symbol rates for subsequent analysis.
Summers revealed that RFEL will make use of fractional re-sampling when it moves into the demodulation business next year, allowing customers to identify the type as well as the presence of a signal.
However, there is a limit to how the firm will move down the signal train. "We don't do decoding," said Summers.
