Signal processing IP developer RF Engines has developed an FPGA
intellectual property (IP) core aimed at spectrometer applications
such as astronomy.
The Isle of Wight firm said the core makes it easier to develop
very wideband spectral analysis systems. The Max-Planck-Institut
für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn is using the core in its
100m radio telescope.
The spectrometer core takes a 1GHz sampled signal and converts
to a power spectrum in real time using a 16k-point fast Fourier
transform.
Up to 400MHz of radio spectrum bandwidth is gathered with a
passband ripple of 0.001dB at a frequency resolution of 30.5kHz,
claimed the firm.
"We are extremely pleased to be working with the
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie in an area which is
pushing the boundaries of receiver technology," said John Summers,
v-p of sales and business development at RF Engines.
"Their latest radio astronomy receiver gives a practical
demonstration of the dramatic technology advances that can be
achieved through the use of FPGA technology."
A typical hardware platform for the core is the Acqiris AC210 or
AC240, said RF Engines, which combines a Xilinx Virtex II Pro 70
FPGA with a 1GHz analogue to digital converter.
The AC240 has the capacity to support 2GHz sampling and
32k-point FFTs, a goal of the IP core, said Summers.
www.rfel.com
www.MPIfR-Bonn.MPG.de