New-Tech Europe | March 2017 | Digital Edition

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new products
discrete radio components compared to commercially
available alternatives. Additionally, the AD9371 can
be used as a common design platform across multiple
applications and standards, increasing R&D efficiency
and reducing product time-to-market.
Industry distinctions earned in 2016 include:
EE Times and EDN ACE (Annual Creativity in
Electronics) Award
EDN Hot 100 Products award in the category of RF,
wireless and networking
Microwaves & RF 2016 Top New Products award
Platinum Technology Innovation Award from Military &
Aerospace Electronics and Intelligent Aerospace
Learnmore about the RadioVerse technology and design
ecosystem including the wideband RF transceiver
product series:
View the AD9371 RF wideband transceiver product
page, download data sheets, order samples and
evaluation boards:
Xilinx Unveils Disruptive Integration and
Architectural Breakthrough for 5G Wireless with
RF-Class Analog Technology
Today announced a disruptive integration and architectural
breakthrough for 5G wireless with the infusion of RF-
class analog technology into its 16nm All Programmable
MPSoCs. Xilinx’s new All Programmable RFSoCs eliminate
discrete data converters, providing 50-75% power and
footprint reduction for 5G massive-MIMO and millimeter
wave wireless backhaul applications.
Large scale 2D antenna array systems will be key to the
increase in spectral efficiency and network densification
needed for 5G. Manufacturers must find new ways to meet
stringent requirements for commercial deployment. With the
integration of high performance ADCs and DACs in an All
Programmable SoC, radio and wireless backhaul units can
now meet previously unattainable power and form factor
requirements, while increasing channel density. Additionally,
RFSoC devices allow manufacturers to streamline design
and development cycles to meet 5G deployment timelines.
The integrated 16nm-based RF data conversion technology
includes:
Direct RF sampling for simplified analog design, greater
accuracy, smaller form factor, and lower power
12-bit ADCs at up to 4GSPS, high channel count, with
digital down-conversion
14-bit DACs at up to 6.4GSPS, high channel count, with
digital up conversion
“The shift to FinFET technology blends high integration
density with improvements in analog device performance
characteristics,” said Boris Murmann, Professor of
Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. “This enables
the integration of leading-edge analog/RF macros using a
digitally assisted analog design approach.”
“The RFSoC solution from Xilinx is a game changer in the
RRU/massive MIMO active antenna array market,” said Earl
Lum, President, EJL Wireless Research. “It also allows the
company to become the preferred digital solution provider
to this market for current and next generation 4G, 4.5G and
5G wireless networks.”
“Integrating RF signal processing into All Programmable
SoCs enables our customers to dramatically change
their systems architectures. It also continues the Xilinx
imperative for continuous, breakthroughs in system
integration,” said Liam Madden, Corporate Vice President,
FPGA Development and Silicon Technology at Xilinx. “This
will effectively enable our 5G customers to commercially
deploy highly differentiated, large-scale, massive-MIMO
and millimeter-wave backhaul systems. Our new RFSoC
architecture comes at the perfect time, addressing this
urgent problem in 5G development.”
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