Page 20 - Defence Industry Guide #54 2021

20 DEFENCE NEWS
ADM’s Defence Industry Guide 2021 | Edition 54 | www.defencesuppliers.com.au
RADAR, EW, SATCOM MIXED-SIGNAL APPLICATIONS FROM ADI / ARROW ELECTRONICS
ANALOG Devices, Inc. (ADI) has intro- duced a 16-channel, mixed-signal front- end (MxFE) digitizer aimed for use in such aerospace and defence applica- tions, including phased array radars, electronic warfare (EW), and ground- based satellite communications (SAT- COM) (satellite communications). The new digitizer includes four AD9081 or four AD9082 software-defined, direct RF sampling transceivers. It is de- signed to accelerate customer product development by providing reference RF signal chains, software architectures, power supply designs, and application example code. ADI also introduced a digitizing card to complement the plat- form and facilitate system-level calibra- tion algorithms and demonstration of power-up phase determinism.
This system-level calibration algo- rithm is presently achieved in MAT- LAB® and takes approximately three seconds to complete. However, if im- plemented in a hardware description language (HDL), this calibration time may be further reduced while main- taining a completely self-contained algorithm. Additionally, by relying on the MCS algorithms, if the system fre- quency and amplitude are known at boot-up, users can load phase offset values from a lookup table instead of needing to undergo the measurements described in this system-level calibra- tion method. In this case, the system- level calibration method can be used to
populate the phase offsets saved to a lookup table during factory calibration. A successful MCS process has been demonstrated using four Analog De- vices’ AD9081 MxFETM ICs as the backbone of the subarray. Thermal gra- dients across the platform are compen- sated with the aid of phase adjust blocks within four ADF4371 PLL synthesizers. An HMC7043 clock IC is used to dis-
LEFT: The system is now available for purchase from Arrow Electronics Australia.
tribute the SYSREFs and BBP clocks required for the JESD204C interface. MCS algorithms within the AD9081 al- low for simplified system-level calibra- tions and provide a power-up determin- istic phase for multiple frequencies and thermal gradients present in the system.
An efficient system-level calibra- tion algorithm is also presented that is used to populate LUTs during factory calibration, and therefore dramatically reduces system boot time. This plat- form is shown in Figure 11 below and is called the Quad-MxFE.
The system is available for purchase from Arrow Electronics Australia. This work is pertinent to any multi- channel system present in any phased array radar, electronic warfare, instru- mentation, or 5G platform. ■
EPE AND PERATON REMOTEC ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA AND NZ
EPE and Peraton Remotec have an- nounced a partnership to enhance the capability of unmanned ground vehi- cles in Australia and NZ.
Peraton Remotec offers a wide range of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and accessories in the market, with a worldwide installed base of over 2,300 unmanned vehicles, while EPE has delivered and sustains a fleet of more than 180 specialist robots
to support both CIED and C- CBRNE operations in Australia
and New Zealand.
RIGHT: Minister Andrew Hastie along with Trevor Evans, Warwick Penrose and Scott Corrigan.
“Both EPE and Peraton Remotec have proven records of innovating to protect our warfighters, and we’re ea- ger to optimise the clear synergies,” EPE Managing Director, Warwick Penrose said. “EPE is uniquely posi- tioned to provide expert advice rein- forced by proactive and agile support here in Australia. ■
EPE
ARROW ELECTRONICS