M9703B AXIe High-Speed Digitizer / Wideband Digital Receiver

M9703B

AXIe high-speed digitizer / wideband digital receiver 8 channels, 12-bit, up to 3.2 GS/s, DC up to 2 GHz bandwidth

Introduction

The M9703B is a very fast versatile DC-coupled 12-bit wideband digital receiver/digitizer, providing exceptional measurement fidelity over multiple phase-coherent channels. Based on the AXIe standard, offering eight acquisition channels in a single-slot card, it provides excellent channel density and flexible scalability. These features allow the implementation of a large number of high dynamic range, phase-coherent channels in a small volume, making the M9703B ideal for multi-channel applications in advanced physics, aerospace & defense, and RF communications with adjustable center frequency and analysis bandwidth.

Product Description

The M9703B is an 8-channel, 12-bit wideband digital receiver/digitizer, with a patented front-end that is able to capture signals from DC up to 2 GHz1 at 1.6 GS/s, with exceptional measurement accuracy. An interleaving capability allows two channels to be combined to acquire at 3.2 GS/s on four channels, with up to 1.4 GHz instantaneous bandwidth.

The M9703B also provides up to 16 GB of DDR3 acquisition memory and real-time data processing capability with four Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs.

The on-board FPGAs can feature an optional real-time digital down-converter (DDC) that allows tuning and zooming on the signal to be analyzed. This DDC functionality improves the dynamic range, reduces the noise floor, extends the capture time, and accelerates measurement speed.

The M9703B can also be combined with the Keysight PathWave VSA Software and Keysight U1092A Multichannel Acquisition Software for advanced multichannel signal analysis.

Example Applications

• Advanced research experiments, such as hydrodynamics or plasma fusion
• Radar and satellite communication applications, such as antenna array calibration/test, passive radar receiver, or multi-band SATCOM monitoring
• Emerging standards (5G) R&D & DVT in massive MIMO, or multichannel baseband IQ

Product Features

• 12-bit ADC resolution
• 8 channels (4 when interleaving with -INT option)
• Up to 3.2 GS/s sampling rate (with -SR2 and -INT options)
• DC up to 2 GHz input frequency range (with -F10 option in non-interleaved mode)
• Up to 16 GB (1 GSamples/ch) of DDR3 acquisition memory
• 50 Ω input impedance, DC coupled
• Selectable 1 V or 2 V full scale range (FSR)
• ±2x FSR input voltage offset range
• ±200 fs channel-to-channel skew stability
• Up to 15 ps RMS trigger time interpolator (TTI) precision (with -SR2 option)
• Enhanced real-time processing using configurable Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs1
• PCIe four lanes (x4) backplane for up to 1.4 GB/s sustained data throughput
• Real-time digital down-conversion (-DDC option) on 8 phase-coherent channels
• Real-time digital down-conversion with I/Q streaming and recording bundles (-CB1 and -CB2)
• Support for Windows and Linux

Uncompromising Values

• Very wide bandwidth and fast acquisition with optimized dynamic range
• Scalable phase-coherent acquisition channels in a small space
• High measurement throughput
• Reduced test time by tuning and zooming on signals (-DDC option):

o Isolate the signal of interest

o Improve the dynamic range

o Extend the capture time, or reduce the amount of transferred data

o Trigger on the signal of interest

• Multichannel phase coherent streaming and recording measurements with up to 320 MHz alias protected instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) via bundles -CB1 and -CB2

Hardware Platform

Hardware Overview

The M9703B is a flexible modular wideband digital receiver/digitizer offering scalable features depending on application requirements. The standard configuration implements 8 channels of 12-bit resolution with DC to 650 MHz input frequency range (-3 dB analog bandwidth), and acquiring data at 1 GS/s. If higher speed is required, the -SR2 option enables the 8 channels to sample at 1.6 GS/s. An interleave option (-INT) also allows 2 channels to be combined and reach 3.2 GS/s with -SR2 option in 4-channel acquisition mode. For higher frequency signals, the -F10 option provides an extended input frequency range of DC up to 2 GHz1 in non-interleaved mode, or DC up to 1.4 GHz when interleaving channels2.

Block Diagram

The M9703B implements four Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs dedicated to data processing. The four data processing units (DPU) implement a standard digitizer functionality firmware by default, allowing digitization of the signal, storage of the resulting data in the on-board memory and transfer through the PCIe connection to the AXIe backplane bus.

Secure SCPI Over LAN Functionality

The M9703B can be used with the M9506A AXIe chassis, which has been designed for demanding modular applications.

It provides 5 slots for AXIe instrument modules, up to 300 W per slot, and includes an embedded system module (ESM) that does not take up an instrument slot. The ESM provides Gen 3 x8/x16 PCIe® interfaces for connecting the chassis to an external controller or expanding the system using multiple chassis. To minimize rack space, the instrument module slots are arranged horizontally. The M9506A is the quietest AXIe chassis available with its new cooling design.

The M9506A-BC1 option adds a closed, instrument-grade, Linux-based controller to the back of the chassis. This has been developed specifically for M9703B, M9709A and M9710A digitizers to enhance security for high channel count applications, bringing the ease of use of traditional benchtop together with the benefits of a modular platform. A simple LAN connection enables easy SCPI based control of many digitizer channels in a small space.