“What sets it apart from other DACs is that it is first on the market to support operation within the 26GHz upwards Ka-band,” claimed the company. “Numerous features have been incorporated, such as DDS [direct digital synthesis], plus digital up-conversion via a built-in 32bit NCO [numerically-controlled oscillator].”

It sees the DAC enabling RF designs with digital functions like fast frequency hopping (FFH) and beam-forming implemented using software – with configuration changes implemented in code, by configuring the DAC, rather than having to alter hardware.

“Through these DAC devices we are accelerating the anticipated software-isation of RF, which is something that is certain to bring huge benefits in the future,” said Teledyne marketing director Nicolas Chantier. “Availability of samples at will be appealing to engineers, as it will take time to rethink how their data conversion architectures are going to be structured.”

Applications are foreseen in radar, satellite communication and terrestrial network infrastructure.

The device comes in a 20 x 20mm Hi-TCE package and will operate over -55°C to 125°C.

An evaluation kit, EV12DD700, was introduced in the spring.

How do you get 26GHz out of a 12Gsample/s ADC, Electronics Weekly asked Teledyne?

Teledyne engineering replied:

At 12Gsample/s the Nyquist zone width is 6GHz.

Basically, we generate the signal in the first Nyquist between DC and 6GHz.

As the signal is mirrored in the next Nyquist zones, with a wide DAC output bandwidth we have enough power to exploit the repeated signal in the 5th Nyquist.

For the EV12DD700, using the 2RF mode to maximise the output power in the 5th Nyquist at 12Gsample/s.

Try this page by Tabor Electronics for more information on under-sampling, suggested Teledyne.