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SIGNALCORE SC5307A Hardware Manual

6 ghz rf downconverter
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Hardware Manual
SC5307A & SC5308A
6 GHz RF Downconverter
www.signalcore.com
© 2017 SignalCore, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Summary of Contents for SIGNALCORE SC5307A

  • Page 1 Hardware Manual SC5307A & SC5308A 6 GHz RF Downconverter www.signalcore.com © 2017 SignalCore, Inc. All Rights Reserved...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Copyright & Trademarks ........................ 4 International Materials Declarations ..................... 5 CE European Union EMC & Safety Compliance Declaration ............5 Warnings Regarding Use of SignalCore Products ................6 Physical Description ..........................7 Unpacking ............................7 Setting Up the Device ........................7 Front Interface Indicators and Connectors ..................
  • Page 3 Device Parameters Data and Format ................... 38 Device Information Parameters and Format ............... 39 Communication Interfaces ........................1 Communication Data Format ......................1 USB Interface ..........................1 Control Transfer ........................1 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.
  • Page 4 General Information Bulk Transfer ......................... 1 SPI Interface ..........................2 Writing the SPI Bus ........................ 3 Reading the SPI Bus ....................... 3 RS232 Interface ..........................4 Writing to the Device Via RS232 .................... 4 Reading from the Device Via RS232 ..................5 PXI Express ............................

  • Page 5: General Information

    SignalCore reserves the right to make changes to subsequent editions of this document without prior notice to possessors of this edition. Please contact SignalCore if errors are suspected. In no event shall SignalCore be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it.

  • Page 6: International Materials Declarations

    General Information products. Use of SignalCore products is restricted to applications that do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. “SignalCore”, “signalcore.com”, and the phrase “preserving signal integrity” are registered trademarks of SignalCore, Incorporated. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

  • Page 7: Warnings Regarding Use Of Signalcore Products

    BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM SIGNALCORE'S TESTING PLATFORMS, AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE SIGNALCORE PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY SIGNALCORE, THE USER OR...

  • Page 8: Physical Description

    As each device’s integrated system configuration is unique, detailed cooling options cannot be provided. A cooling plan is sufficient when the SC5307A and SC5308A on-board temperature sensors indicate a rise of no more than 20°C above ambient temperature under normal operating conditions.

  • Page 9: Front Interface Indicators And Connectors

    SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual Front Interface Indicators and Connectors The SC5307A is a PXIe-based RF downconverter with all user I/O located on the front face of the module as shown below: Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual...

  • Page 10: Signal Connections

    Physical Description The SC5308A is a serial controlled core module with front face connections shown below: Signal Connections All signal connections (ports) on the device are female SMA-type. Exercise caution when fastening cables to the signal connections. Over-tightening any connection can cause permanent damage to the device.

  • Page 11: Device Led Indicators

    51110-3051 or ribbon type 87568-3093 from Molex. The pin definitions of this I/O connector are listed in Table 3. Pinouts are different for different SignalCore products with the same connector type. Please ensure that mating connectors and cables are wired correctly before connection.

  • Page 12: Mini-Usb Connection

    Physical Description 2,4,6,8,10,12,16,20,24,28 GND 9,11,13,14,15 Reserved, Do Not Connect 17,18 Reserved, pull high to 3.3V or DNC , System reset, logic 0 to reset device Reset 21 Device Active, accessed 22 PLL status 23 RS232 Baud Rate / SPI Mode Select 25 CS Device select for SPI 26 SPI Clock 27 TX/MOSI.

  • Page 13: Reset Button (Pin Hole)

    All user settings will be lost. System reset capability can also be accessed through the communication header connector. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 14: Functional Description

    Functional Description 3 Functional Description Overview The SC5308A uses USB as its primary interface with an optional SPI or RS232 interface. The SC5307A is a PXIe version of the product. The downconverter assembly consists of three module parts: • The Signal Conversion Module contains the mixers, filters, signal amplifiers, and attenuators. This module is referred to as the “signal chain”.

  • Page 15: The Signal Chain

    IF3 Freq = ~LF-500 MHz CF=1.25 GHz BW=80 MHZ 250 MHz From LO Module BW=80 MHz 0.75 – 1.75 MHzHz Figure 4. Block diagram of the signal conversion module of the downconverter assembly Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 16: The Input Path Switch

    Functional Description The Input Path Switch Immediately following the capacitor is an RF switch to selectively direct the RF signal down two paths: 1. The default is the conversion path where the RF signal is converted to a final IF. 2.
  • Page 17 This stage of conversion is an up conversion rather than a down conversion. This broadband architecture simplifies the input RF and IF1 sections to achieve: 1. Superior image rejection without the use of multiple RF bandpass filters. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 18: The Second Mixer And If2 Path

    Functional Description 2. Great RF suppression and isolation in the IF2 passband without multiple IF and LO frequency bands. The disadvantage of this approach is the requirement of high IF1 and LO1 frequencies which places demanding phase noise requirements on the LO1 synthesizer. The Second Mixer and IF2 Path The second IF (IF2) is typically centered at 1.25 GHz and has settable range with 5 MHz steps.

  • Page 19: The Third Mixer And If3 Path

    LO2 - LO3 intermodulation or having significant LO leakages even when the device is tuned for RF as low as 70 MHz. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual...
  • Page 20 Functional Description Filter bank IF3_FIL#1 has 2 selectable low pass filters: a 500 MHz and a 250 MHz filter. These filters are there to suppress LO3 leakage, IF2 leakage, and high order intermodulation products that are out of band. Select the 250 MHz filter for IF3 values less than 200 MHz. Dynamic Range Setting There are 2 sets of digital step attenuators to control the conversion gain of the downconverter.

  • Page 21: The Lo Module

    EEPROM as shown in Figure 7. LO Section To Signalchain Module DRVR ENABLE CAL EEPROM REF DETECT 100M PLL Reference Section TCXO PLL Figure 5. Block diagram of the local oscillator. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 22: The Reference Clocks

    Functional Description The Reference Clocks The base clock of the downconverter is a 10 MHz Voltage Controlled Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator (VCTCXO) with initial accuracy better than 500 ppb once the device has reached a stable temperature. Its initial accuracy is set at the factory via an on-board 14-bit voltage reference DAC.

  • Page 23: The Second Local Oscillator (Lo2)

    IF output port. The Interface Module Figure 7 shows the power and control interface block for both the SC5307A and SC5308A. All supply rails are produced on board; their voltages are regulated and actively filtered to keep noise to a minimum.

  • Page 24: Hardware Registers

    Hardware Registers 4 Hardware Registers The set of hardware registers of the downconverter may be divided into a configuration set and a query set; the configuration registers are write-only registers to set up the states of the device, while the query registers request the device to prepare and send back data associated with them. The registers are identical for all communication interfaces: PXIe, USB, RS232, and SPI.

  • Page 25: Register 0X01 Initialize

    1 = Resets the default to the default or startup state [7:1] Unused Set to zeros [7:0] Read back byte Read 1 byte back is required for PXIe and RS232 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 26: Register 0X02 System_Active

    Hardware Registers Register 0x02 SYSTEM_ACTIVE This register turns on or off the active LED indicator on the front connector interface of the device. This register should be called when the device is opened or closed in software. Bytes written 2 Bytes read 1 Bits Type...

  • Page 27: Register 0X11 If_Frequency

    0 = Disables the RF amplifier Frequency word 1 = Enables the RF amplifier [7:1] Unused Set to zeros [7:0] Read back byte Read 1 byte back is required for PXIe and RS232 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 28: Register 0X15 Attenuator

    Hardware Registers Register 0x15 ATTENUATOR This register sets the value of the device attenuators. Bytes written 4 Bytes read 1 Bits Type Name Width Description [7:0] Attenuator value In 0.25 dB steps, i.e. LSB = 0.25 dB The attenuator number: 0 = RF Atten #1 1 = RF Atten #2 The target...

  • Page 29: Register 0X17 Config_Auto_Gain

    0 = Attenuator and RF amplifier states are not manipulated when RF values are changed autoGainEnable 1 = Computes and applies new sets of attenuator and amplifier states to the device as frequency is changed Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 30: Register 0X18 Store_Default_State

    Hardware Registers Bits Type Name Width Description 0 = Not to load new input parameter such as RF level, etc. Will not load any information from bits loadParams [47:2] 1 = Will load bits [31:2] 0 = Computation will leave the state of the RF amplifier unchanged 1 = Computation will change the state of the RF autoCntrlRfAmp...

  • Page 31: Register 0X19 Device_Standby

    [7:0] Read back byte Read 1 byte back is required for PXIe and RS232 Register 0x1A REFERENCE_CLOCK This register configures the reference clock behavior. Bytes written 2 Bytes read 1 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 32: Register 0X1B Reference_Dac

    1 = Enables frequency locking to external 10 MHz reference source RefOutEnable Reference out port enabled 0 = 10 MHz output Clk10Enable 1 = 100 MHz output Only on SC5307A to enable export of the 10 MHz PXI10Enable backplane clock [7:2] Unused Set to zeros [7:0]...

  • Page 33: Register 0X1D Synth_Self_Cal

    Read 1 byte back is required for PXIe and RS232 Register 0x1F FREQ_PLAN_PARAM This register sets up the frequency plan parameters and stores them as the default values. Bytes written 8 Bytes read 1 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 34: Query Registers

    Hardware Registers Bits Type Name Width Description [47:0] Data Data for the parameter 0 = RF frequency 1 = IF1 frequency [50:48] Parameter 2 = IF2 frequency 3 = IF3 frequency [55:51] Unused Set to zeros [7:0] Read back byte Read 1 byte back is required for PXIe and RS232 Query Registers These are request for data registers, in that a request for certain data is made by writing to the...

  • Page 35: Register 0X30 Get_Device_Param

    These 32 bits of data need to be type casted back to float. i.e. var_float = *(float*)&var_u32 where [31:0] Temperature Data var_u32 is some unsigned integer that holds the 32 bits of read data. [63:32] Invalid data Ignore Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 36: Register 0X32 Get_Device_Status

    Hardware Registers Register 0x32 GET_DEVICE_STATUS Write to this register to query the current operating conditions. Bytes written 2 Bytes read 8 Bits Type Name Width Description [7:0] Unused Set to zeros Pll status: LO1 sum The summing PLL of LO1 Pll status: LO1 crs The coarse tuning PLL of LO1 Pll status: LO1 fine...

  • Page 37: Register 0X33 Get_Device_Info

    = 1 [37] Reserved [63:38] Invalid data Ignore Register 0x33 GET_DEVICE_INFO Write to this register to query the device information such as serial number. Bytes written 2 Bytes read 8 Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.
  • Page 38 Hardware Registers Bits Type Name Width Description 0: Product serial number and Interface type 1: Firmware and hardware revision 2: Calibration and manufacture date [3:0] DeviceInfo 3: Device interface 4: Manufacture date 5: Last calibration date [7:4] Unused Ignore [63:0] Data Information data (see Device Info data) Register 0x34 CAL_EEPROM_READ...

  • Page 39: Device Parameters Data And Format

    Divide the data by 1000 to obtain the result in Hertz. Attenuator values Each attenuator value is returned as one byte, and the LSB is in 0.25 dB. Divide each byte by 4 to obtain the result in dB. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 40: Device Information Parameters And Format

    Hardware Registers Signal Chain Configuration The signal chain configuration data is in the first 2 bytes, and their data is represented in the following table. Table 7. Signal chain configuration data representation Bit Description [0] Bypass Conversion [1] IF2 external port select [2] Bypass IF3 conversion [3] NA [4] IF2 filter selection 0 = 160 MHz, 1 = 80 MHz...
  • Page 41 The first 4 bytes represent the manufactured date and the last 4 bytes represent the last calibration date. The date format is outlined in the following table. Type Description Month [4:3] Year (i.e. 2016) Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.
  • Page 43 Section 2 Communication Interfaces and Calibration © 2017 SignalCore, Inc. All Rights Reserved...

  • Page 44: Communication Interfaces

    Communication Interfaces 5 Communication Interfaces The SC5307A has a PXI express interface, while the SC5308A has 2 communication interfaces: 1. USB and SPI 2. USB and RS232 This section will examine the communication aspects of the product, focusing on data transfer to and from the device on each interface.

  • Page 45: Spi Interface

    The (���� minimum period of 1 ���� (�� , see Figure 9) before data is clocked in, and must remain low for the �� Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 46: Writing The Spi Bus

    Communication Interfaces = 0.2 ����), however, if the external entire register write. The clock rate may be as high as 5.0 MHz (�� �� SPI signals do not have sufficient integrity due to trace issues, the rate should be lowered. Byte N (MSB) DATA 8 Bit Command/ Reg.

  • Page 47: Rs232 Interface

    6 bytes (address plus data), then all 6 bytes must be sent even though the last byte may be null. The device, upon receiving the first register addressing byte, Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual...

  • Page 48: Reading From The Device Via Rs232

    A simple driver using IO controls should be sufficient to read and write byte data to this block of addresses. Although SignalCore provides the driver and API for these products, information is provided here for users who may need to write drivers for a different operating system or a different driver.

  • Page 49: Writing To The Device

    8. All 8 bytes must be read to fully clear the transfer buffer; the first byte read is the most significant byte. Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 50: Calibration

    Calibration 6 Calibration Calibration EEPROM Map Table 10 represents the EEPROM map of the device calibration values. All values are stored as little- endian 4-byte floating point numbers. Every point is 4-bytes long. Access to the data is possible through the CAL_EEPROM_READ register, which reads 8 bytes starting at the address pointed to by the register input.

  • Page 51: Absolute Conversion Gain

    Assuming independency, and to be able to compute the gain of the downconverter at any setting, an absolute reference state of the device must be determined first. Once this reference state is Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual...

  • Page 52: Gain Through The Bypass Rf Conversion Path

    Calibration established, compensation can be applied to other relative configured states of the device. The established reference state of the device is as follows: • All attenuators are set to 0 dB • IF2 Filter setting is 0, or 160 MHz filter selected •...
  • Page 53 Adding this correction to the previously calculated gain will compensate the value for temperature deviation. �� = �� + ���� − ���� − ����3 + ∆�� ������ ������������ ����������1 ����������1 �������� Rev 2.0 | SC5307A & SC5308A Hardware Manual SignalCore, Inc.

  • Page 54: Revision Table

    Revision Table Revision Table Revision Revision Date Description 1/15/17 Initial Release 5/12/17 Corrected Status parameters 6/13/19 Address removed 8/5/20 Updated formatting ©2017 Rev 2.0...

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