EVM employs a four-device cascaded array of mmWave devices

Texas Instruments MMWCAS-RF-EVM AWRx Cascaded Radar RF EVM employs a four-device, cascaded array of AWRx mmWave devices. This configuration enables a single master device to distribute a 20GHz LO signal between all four devices, allowing these devices to function as a single RF transceiver. This offers support for up to 12 TX and 16 RX antenna elements.

In TX beam-forming, beam-steering, and MIMO/SIMO usage, the greater number of antenna elements allows higher SNR and higher angular resolution when compared to a single-device system. The EVM interfaces to a companion TDA2x based Host/Data Capture board that is responsible for controlling the AWRx devices and receiving captured IF ADC samples. The TDA2x comprises SSD storage for supporting longer-term data capture scenarios and 1GB Ethernet connectivity for control and offloading captured data.

The EVM is supported by standard mmWave tools and software, incorporating mmWave Studio and the mmWave device firmware package.

The evaluation board, when combined with a compatible host/data capture board, contains everything needed to start evaluating a single-device, or two-device, three-device or four-device cascaded radar solution.