Signal processing is all about signals and bandwidth. The CHAMP-WB OpenVPX board family, a rugged VPX board set from Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions, raises the product’s sampling rate from 12.5 GSps to 25 GSps. The CHAMP-WB can be configured as a single-channel (25 GSps) or dual-channel (two 12.5 GSps) ADC engine to address the most demanding wide-spectrum communications applications.
These board sets enable direct RF sampling of bandwidths up to 15 GHz using open architecture COTS modules. The board sets speed and simplify the design of very high-performance wideband signals intelligence (SIGINT), electronic warfare (EW), and satellite communications (SATCOM) applications for deployed platforms such as manned and unmanned aircraft, ground vehicles, ships, and base stations.
The ultra-high sampling rates enable huge swaths of bandwidth to be scanned for signals of interest. In dual-channel mode, the CHAMP-WB A25G eliminates the need for a second CHAMP-WB to provide a second independent channel. Curtiss-Wright and Tektronix Component Solutions jointly developed the ADC and DAC modules on the CHAMP-WB board. The ADC module hosts two multichip modules (MCMs), each of which contains an ADC and dual demultiplexer (DEMUX) silicon.