Arlington, VA – May 13, 2010 – At the IEEE Radar 2010 conference, TEK Microsystems, Incorporated, the leading supplier of VME and VXS-based signal acquisition, generation and FPGA-based processing products, has announced the latest member of our QuiXilica product family, the Calypso-V5. The new Calypso-V5 supports either two 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) channels at 3.2 GSPS (Gigasamples per second) or six channels at 1.6 GSPS. Like all members of the QuiXilica-V5 VXS family, the Calypso-V5 is compatible with legacy VME systems as well as newer ANSI/VITA 41 VXS based systems and combines high density FPGA processing with the ultimate in ultra wide band ADC signal acquisition.
“Tekmicro is committed to providing our customers with the best available ADC technology for 10, 12, and 16 bit resolutions. The new Calypso-V5 is another industry first for Tekmicro, providing the fastest available sampling rate for 12-bit signal acquisition”, comments Andrew Reddig, CEO / CTO of Tekmicro. “By using National Semiconductor’s latest ADC device, we are able to meet our customers’ requests for multi-channel signal acquisition and processing using 2nd Nyquist sampling and 500+ MHz staring bandwidth, which addresses a critical “sweet spot” for certain applications sampled at 1.333 GSPS”.
Calypso-V5 ADC Supports Ultra Wide Band Signal Acquisition
Calypso-V5 is based on the latest National Semiconductor ADC device which supports either a pair of channels in non-interleaved mode or a single channel using 2:1 interleaved sampling. Calypso-V5 contains four ADC devices, supporting a total of either six channels plus trigger at 1.6 GSPS or two channels plus trigger at 3.2 GSPS.
In all modes, the converters provide 12-bit resolution and open analog bandwidth exceeding 2 GHz. This allows Calypso-V5 to be used as a 3.2 GSPS converter for 1st Nyquist applications or as a high density multichannel building block for lower bandwidth applications using either 1st or 2nd Nyquist sampling.
Calypso-V5 also includes sample-accurate trigger synchronization in all modes, allowing coherent processing of multiple input channels both within a single card and across multiple cards. This allows applications of up to 108 channels to be supported within a single chassis.
High Density FPGA Processing
The Calypso-V5 contains four separate ADC devices, with each pair of devices assigned to its own front end FPGA for signal processing. In the QuiXilica-V5 family, the front end FPGA is typically a Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T-2 device. Future QuiXilica products later in 2010 will offer higher density Virtex-6 FPGA options including LX240T, SX315T and SX475T devices.
The two front end FPGAs are supplemented with a “backend” FPGA which can be used for additional processing or for backplane or front panel communications. In the QuiXilica-V5 family, the backend FPGA can be configured with a range of Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA options, from the standard LX110T-2 up to a LX330T, FX200T, or SX240T, depending on application requirements.
Memory, Network and Interconnect Resources
The Calypso-V5 includes six banks of DDR3 memory with total capacity of 6 GB and aggregate throughput of 38+ GB/s, supporting a wide range of signal processing algorithms with deep memory buffering of the entire signal acquisition stream. Each FPGA supports a Gigabit Ethernet interface for control plane purposes, along with a range of front panel and backplane I/O connections for high speed communications with other processing cards.
Ruggedization Support for Deployed Applications
The Calypso-V5 is available for a wide range of operating environments, including commercial grade, rugged air and conduction cooled, allowing the card to be used for both laboratory and deployed requirements in both VME and VXS systems.
Comprehensive Developers Kit Speeds Time To Market
The Calypso-V5 VXS is supported by a comprehensive Developer’s Kit that includes interface IP cores for all onboard resources along with Tekmicro’s QuiXtream network toolkit for rapid application development using network-enabled FPGAs. Reference designs are included, with source code, to support quick prototyping of user applications with minimal learning curve.
The Calypso-V5 VXS will be available in for early access customers starting in October 2010.
About TEK Microsystems, Incorporated.
Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Tekmicro designs, manufactures and delivers a wide range of advanced high-performance boards and systems for embedded real-time signal acquisition, generation, processing, storage and recording. Tekmicro provides both commercial and rugged grade products which are used in real-time systems designed for a wide range of defense, intelligence and industrial applications such as C4ISR, signals intelligence, electronic warfare and radar.