New DAC supports all wireless and mobile device frequency standards

Analog Devices has introduced a new quad-channel, 2.4-GSPS, 16-bit D/A converter with industry leading dynamic range performance in the 100MHz to 300MHz band for complex IF transmitters. The highly-integrated AD9154 quad, 16-bit D/A converter is the only device of its kind to include an on-chip PLL (phase-locked loop) and eight-lane JESD204B interface. The combination of features allows designers to use a single device to meet all of their requirements in multicarrier GSM and LTE transmitters designed for wireless macro base stations, point-to-point microwave radio, defence radios and radio test equipment. The new converter includes a range of features optimized for complex IF (intermediate frequency) transmit applications, including complex digital modulation, input-signal power detection, and gain, phase and offset compensation. The AD9154 quad, 2.4-GSPS, 16-bit D/A converter is designed to up-convert a pair of I/Q digital input signals, creating a complex IF signal at the input to a pair of on-chip D/A converter cores. The new device features several interpolation modes, increasing the sampling rate of the digital signal to the Nyquist frequency to enable simpler, less costly transmitter filters following the D/A converter analog output. The AD9154 additionally includes digital-signal correction for quadrature modulator up-converters to cancel RF (radio frequency) local oscillator feed-through and unwanted side-bands. The AD9154 converter was designed with an eight-lane JESD204B interface that simplifies board layout by providing deterministic latency and multi-device synchronization for radio transmitters that use multiple antennas - an increasingly common feature in wireless base stations, radar and defence radio communications, says the company.