TI's Evolved ADC Creates Small, Energy-Saving Base Stations

TI's Evolved ADC Creates Small, Energy-Saving Base Stations

Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced the first product in a new series of high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), the ADS4149, which is said to save 30% of the power consumption of software-defined radio (SDR), measurement and wireless communication systems, and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by about 3dB. In base station applications, it can be used to replace the pin-compatible previous generation product ADS61B49.

ADS4149 can achieve ultra-low power consumption and good dynamic performance in the entire signal bandwidth from DC to up to 550MHz. The 14-bit ADS4149 has a maximum sampling rate of 250MSPS (million samples per second). Compared with the closest low-power ADC, it can save 30% of power consumption while improving 3dB SNR, which can not only increase the coverage and sensitivity in defense, measurement and communication applications, but also achieve higher efficiency and density.

The ADS4149 consumes only 275mW per channel at 250MSPS and achieves an SNR of 72.5dB at an input frequency of 100MHz. Dynamic power scaling reduces power consumption to 215mW at a sampling rate of 160MSPS. The component's selectable buffered analog input not only provides constant input impedance for a variety of time and frequency, but also eliminates sample-and-hold kickback, significantly simplifying input matching for passive and active analog front-end components while significantly reducing pass band ripple.

The 1 to 6 dB programmable gain options of the ADS4149 give customers the flexibility to trade off between SNR and noise-free dynamic range (SFDR) with low input voltage swings. The ADS4149 family includes pin-compatible 12-bit and 14-bit versions and buffers at 160 and 250 MSPS, allowing customers to easily switch to lower resolutions and sampling rates without changing their core designs.

In terms of supporting tools, the TI TSW1200 digital capture tool helps to quickly analyze the ADS4149 evaluation module (EVM). The existing HSMC (high-speed mezzanine connector) and FMC (FPGA mezzanine connector) enable the ADS4149 EVM to match the FPGA EVM, thereby enabling system-level prototyping and accelerating the development process.

TI has provided a complete signal chain product to help customers further accelerate the time to market of software-defined radio and test equipment, including: dual-channel 16-bit 1GSPS digital-to-analog converter (DAC5682Z), wideband fully differential amplifier (THS4509), programmable digital up/down converter (GC5016), digital pre-distortion solution with crest factor reduction function (GC5325), direct orthogonal amplitude modulator (TRF3703), frequency synthesizer (TRF3761), low-jitter frequency generator and synchronizer (CDCE62005 and CDCE72010) and high-performance DSP (TMS320C6472).

The ADS4149 and similar single-channel configurations are available now in a 48-pin QFN package.