Avnet release Avnet RFSoC Explorer Toolbox Version 3.0

This platform enables customers to quickly develop and prototype advanced 5G mmWave systems using AMD Zynq* UltraScale+* RFSoC Gen3 and Fujikura’s FutureAccess* Phased Array Antenna Module (PAAM), controlled by the Avnet RFSoC Explorer* MATLAB dashboard.

The release offers an expanded programming API to facilitate control of the Fujikura PAAM Daughtercard. The Avnet RFSoC Explorer Toolbox delivers a robust installation and maintenance experience for users. The latest update also includes more flexible programming of the AMD CLK104 RF Clock Add-on Card and reliable system clock reset, enabling Avnet RFSoC Explorer to program a more comprehensive range of sampling clocks delivered to the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZCU208 Evaluation Kit.

Also included in the software release is continued support for the Avnet Wideband mmWave Radio Development Kit for RFSoC Gen3, which features the DTRX2 radio card that operates from 19 – 31GHz. A Simulink model is available for the DTRX2 radio card, which targets applications in 5G, radar and satellite communications in the K and Ka bands. The addition of this daughtercard with 2 TX/RX up/downconverters to the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZCU208 allows designers to test our RF-class analog in millimeter-wave applications.

“Combining the wide range of 5G and wireless design solutions available in MATLAB with Avnet’s mmWave development kits provides engineers with a productivity boost,” said Noam Levine, Partner Manager at MathWorks. “With MATLAB and RFSoC Explorer Toolbox, designers can use one software environment to implement complete systems – from modeling and simulation using standard-compliant functions and reference examples to deploying designs to prototype hardware.”

“Avnet is leading the way for antenna-to-bits prototyping with the latest release of the Avnet RFSoC Explorer MATLAB software,” said Jim Beneke, vice president of Advanced Applications Group, Avnet. “Through our collaboration with MathWorks, we are enabling mmWave radio solutions by providing designers the ability to quickly prototype communications algorithms, reduce engineering time, and bring wireless applications to market even faster.”