RF mezzanine front-ends
For operating frequencies beyond the direct-sampling range, VORTARIAN uses application-specific RF mezzanine front-ends to translate the desired RF band into a frequency range optimized for the high-dynamic-range data converters of the base platform.
Compared with wideband direct RF sampling at microwave frequencies, a frequency-converting front-end can avoid the need for very high-speed direct-RF data converters, potentially reducing power consumption and overall system cost. More importantly, it allows the complete receive chain to be optimized for a specific application through RF preselection, gain distribution, filtering and frequency planning.
With an appropriate RF and IF architecture, narrowband applications can benefit from improved blocker rejection and very high system-level dynamic range and SFDR. The trade-off is additional RF complexity: mixers, local oscillators and filters introduce their own phase-noise, spurious-response and calibration requirements.
Key Parameters
- 20 MHz to 1.4 GHz: direct RF / IF sampling on the base platform.
- Above 1.4 GHz: optional RF mezzanine front-ends provide frequency conversion for application-specific bands.
- Up to 75 GHz: frequency coverage can be extended with suitable RF mezzanine front-end implementations.
Application-specific RF design
JSE offers customization and development of RF mezzanine front-ends for application-specific frequency bands, bandwidths, gain ranges and signal levels. Complete RF front-end design and adaptation can be provided as a fixed-price engineering service based on agreed technical requirements.
2.4 GHz ISM-band mezanine front-end
VORTARIAN 4R2C-2G5
The reference 2.4 GHz ISM-band implementation provides four coherent RX paths, two TX paths and more than 100 MHz instantaneous RF bandwidth.
Key Features
- Frequency band: 2.4 GHz ISM-band RF front-end.
- Instantaneous bandwidth: more than 100 MHz RF bandwidth.
- Receive: 4 coherent RF receive paths, SMA connectors.
- Frequency reference: On-board 100 MHz low-phase-noise OCXO ±50 ppb.
- RX gain modes: Selectable low-gain and high-gain receive modes.
- Customization: RF front-end can be adapted for application-specific frequency bands, filtering, gain and signal levels.