SAN DIEGO, CA, WInnComm?March 24, 2015?Pentek, Inc., today introduced the newest member of its Cobalt® line of XMCs (Switched Mezzanine Cards): the Model 71624 dual channel, 34 signal, adaptive IF (Intermediate Frequency) relay XMC with a Virtex-6 FPGA. As an IF relay, it accepts two IF analog input channels, modifies up to 34 signals, and then delivers them to two analog IF outputs. Any signal within each IF band can be independently enabled or disabled, and changed in both frequency and amplitude as it passes through the module.
The 71624 supports many useful functions for both commercial and military communications systems including signal drop/add/replace, frequency shifting and hopping, amplitude equalization, and bandwidth consolidation. Targeted applications include signal monitoring, signal jamming, channel security, countermeasures, beamforming and radar applications.
The Model 71624 features 34 digital down converters (DDCs), each independently tunable across a 100 MHz input IF range, handling signal bandwidths from 20 kHz up to 312 kHz. The DDCs deliver 34 baseband signals to the host computer, which determines how each signal is dropped, replaced, or changed in amplitude and frequency. The modified signals are then combined and delivered as an analog IF output.
“The flexibility of the Model 71624 allows each signal to be manipulated in its own way,” said Rodger Hosking, vice-president of Pentek. “Because the host computer is in the control loop, it supports adaptive applications such as signal scanning and tracking, as well as cognitive radio functions like jamming, denial of service and other countermeasures,” he added.
Adaptive Relay
The Model 71624 comes preconfigured with a suite of time-tested Pentek IP functions for DDC, DUC, DMA transfers and digital summation. Captured signals may be relayed with gain and frequency modifications directly through the module, or the host system may substitute a modified signal on any channel instead. The Model 71624 features an on-board programmable sample clock synthesizer that is phase-lockable to an external frequency reference input. Multiple units can be synchronized for high-channel count systems.
Form Factors, Development Systems & Software Support
The Cobalt Model 71624 XMC is designed for commercial, rugged or conduction cooled operating environments. It is also available in several form factors, including 3U and 6U VPX (52624/53624 & 57624/58624), 3U and 6U cPCI (72624/73624/74624), AMC (56624) and PCIe (78624).
With a Pentek SPARK® 8266 PC development system or 8267 VPX development system, designers can start working on their application immediately. Created to save engineers and system integrators the time and expense associated with building and testing a system, it ensures optimum performance of Pentek boards and working examples.
The Pentek ReadyFlow® Board Support Package is available for Windows and Linux operating systems. ReadyFlow is provided as a C-callable library, the complete suite of initialization, control and status functions, as well as a rich set of precompiled, ready-to-run-examples, accelerate application development.
About Pentek
Pentek, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, designs and manufactures innovative COTS and rugged DSP boards and system recorders for commercial, government and military systems, including radar, communications, defense, medical and industrial control applications. Pentek offers powerful VME, VPX, FMC, AMC, XMC, cPCI, and PCIe boards for data acquisition, software radio and digital signal processing featuring high-performance FPGAs. Pentek’s I/O includes A/Ds, D/As, RF downconverters and more. Pentek equips all products with high-performance I/O including gigabit serial interfaces and offers strong DSP software support.
