Mixed-Signal Front End Provides Full Signal-Chain Solutions

July 6, 2023

Analog Devices’ wideband Apollo MxFE front-end SiP, which covers 0.5 to 55 GHz, is software-definable to address a plethora of applications.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

This video is part of our IMS 2023 coverage.

One of the most impressive launches at IMS this year was Analog Devices' Apollo MxFE, a wideband, software-defined, mixed-signal front-end platform. This video brings you two demos:

First, Mosleh Uddin, senior embedded-systems engineer at ADI, demonstrates the companys' new 6G spectrum-analyzer reference design. The demo uses the Apollo MxFE's 12-bit ADCs sampling at 20 Gsamples/s and ADI's 6- to 18-GHz RF front-end board as the RF signal chain. A Rohde & Schwarz signal generator sends a 7-GHz received carrier to the front end of the 6- to 18-GHz board. A local-oscillator signal of 5.5 GHz is mixed in to feed a 1.5-GHz signal to the Apollo MxFE board.

The Apollo MxFE board has a 1.3-GHz NCO frequency, which is further mixed down to a 200-MHz signal going into the ADCs. The live spectrum-analyzer output shows a 200-MHz peak. The reference design maintains a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 50 dB.

In the second demo (beginning at the 1:35 mark), Brad Hall, system applications manager for ADI's aerospace and defense unit, shows a chipset solution based on the Apollo MxFE that covers 0.5 up to 55 GHz. The Apollo MxFE contains four ADCs sampling at up to 20 Gsamples/s and four DACs sampling up to 28 Gsamples/s; the device has an analog front-end bandwidth of up to 18 GHz.

The demo pairs two other ADI devices (the ADMFM2000 LNA SiP and ADMV1455 mixer/downconverter) with the Apollo MxFE to extend and condition the RF signals up to 55 GHz. Also included is LO generation, performed by ADI's ADF4371 wideband synthesizer. The end result is a very low SWaP solution for a wideband front-end implementation.

For more information, visit the company's website

For more IMS 2023 coverage, visit our digital magazine.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.