Signal Processing Nirvana From Sundance

Radio Giga’s XTP capabilities are driven by the Sundance commitment to modular design that integrates cutting edge multiprocessing technologies and backwards compatibility with already deployed architectures. In its headline configuration Radio Giga features multiple Virtex 4 and Virtex 5 Xilinx FPGAs, Dual C Series TI DSP engines with 260MBytes/s Serial RapidIO (SRIO) communication links, Power PC processor cores and 6 channels of low power GHz e2v ADC. Being 1U compliant, Radio Giga delivers incredible rack real-estate efficiencies and offers both Gigabit Ethernet and USB interconnect.

“Feedback from the design community tells us that Ragio Giga is their signal processing Nirvana’, said Flemming Christensen, managing director of Sundance Multiprocessor Technology Ltd. ‘It was expressly designed to deliver optimal performance into the high end comms market and its ‘X’…TP factor allows designers to switch between current and next generation technologies on a common platform. This delivers huge benefits in terms of verification, IP reuse and design migration.”

To support I/Q demodulation and to get the digitizing accuracy needed for Radio Giga, Sundance selected dual 1Gsps ADC from e2v. Its integrated demultiplexer and easy interleaving are user friendly and easy to use, and its low power characteristics were consistent with Radio Giga’s small energy footprint. 6 channels of GHz e2v ADC are available on Radio Giga for maximum bandwidth.

“The selection of e2v high speed data converters by Sundance is further recognition of the high level of performance needed for next generation applications,” said Andrew Benn, product marketing manager at e2v. “This choice underscores e2v’s commitment to excellent electrical performance and low power consumption (700mW/channel) without compromising on integration and flexibility via the 3-wire serial programming interface.”

With an operating frequency of 1GHz and 2MB on-chip level 2 cache each, the dual C6455 TI GHz DSPs deliver the highest fixed point processing power in the C6000 family. Design support is available from TI’s Code Composer StudioTM and 3L’s Diamond multiprocessor tool suite, and Radio Giga’s hardware conforms to the Texas Instruments Module (TIM) standard.

“TI is committed to providing the highest levels of performance available to help innovative customers achieve the needed functionality for processing intensive applications,” said Primo Castro, product line manager, TI. “By taking advantage of TI’s high performance programmable DSPs, Radio Giga is able to provide a user configurable technology platform to help differentiate their solutions for advanced communications devices.”

In addition to dual C6455 TI GHz DSPs, Radio Giga features the most powerful FPGAs from Xilinx. Virtex 4 and Virtex 5 FPGAs provide massive parallel processing resources as well as embedded PowerPC cores, multiple RocketIO serial transceivers and the highest amount of DSP blocks.