Antennas to Bits – Fully Integrated High Performance Signal Chains : Part 1 of a 3 part series

About ADI, Hittite Acquisition
Analog Devices (NASDAQ: ADI) has been recognized for half a century as a world leader in providing high quality data conversion and signal processing products.   In 2014, ADI expanded its portfolio through the acquisition of Hittite Microwave in order to provide its customers the ability to seamlessly integrate ADI products into a complete RF system from antennas to bits, as shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Antenna to Bits

Founded in 1965, Analog Devices has been developing innovative solutions for decades.  Today, ADI products can be found in virtually all classes of electronic systems such as scientific instrumentation, medical devices, automotive and aviation systems, computers, televisions, cell phones and a wide array of embedded systems.  The acquisition of Hittite Microwave in 2014 strengthened ADI’s portfolio of RF products and added industry leading expertise in RF design.  Founded in 1985, Hittite has positioned itself as a leader in RF solutions with an extremely broad portfolio of RF products covering the full spectrum of frequencies from DC to over 100 GHz.  

Breadth and Depth of RF Products
With an already strong portfolio spanning many product categories, ADI now offers a wide array of RF components.  ADI products span the entire RF signal chain including integrated transceivers, transmitters, receivers, attenuators, RF and variable gain amplifiers, RF mixers, I/Q modulators/demodulators, PLLs and frequency synthesizers, high speed data converters and many specialized RF components and modules, see ‘RF and Microwave IC Selection Guide’ for a complete list of RF component offerings.  ADI’s industry leading highly integrated agile transceiver from the unique AD936x family of products perform multiple RF system functions within a single IC, potentially reducing system size, weight, power, costs, and development time.   As a result of the Hittite acquisition, ADI is now able to offer a full breadth and depth of product offerings for a complete RF signal chain, enabling ADI to provide its customers with a one-stop shop for RF components simplifying the purchasing process, provide a streamlined supply of inventory and prevent costly delays.  In addition, ADI provides a number of design services that can greatly improve time to market.  These services include free design tools, rapid prototyping platforms, Circuits from The Lab reference designs and EngineerZone technical forums fit for applications like high speed instrumentation, as shown in Fig. 2, and aerospace and defense markets.
Figure 2: Low End Signal/Spectrum Analyzer Block Diagram After Hittite Acquisition 

ADI RF Design Resources – Value Added
The selection of free RF design tools available from ADI is truly impressive that includes ADIsimRF, Virtual Eval, Visual Analog, and ADIsimPLL.  ADIsimRF, as shown in Fig. 3, is a powerful tool that allows a designer to accurately calculate critical characteristics of an RF signal chain, such as gain, noise and power consumption.  A chain of up to 20 stages can be created within the design environment and can easily be toggled between transmit and receive modes.  A component selection tool provides a fast and convenient method for adding, removing or modifying stages in the chain.  Device models for nearly all of Analog Device’s RF products are available, and custom devices can be created as well.  Additional tools are available to assist in other RF design challenges such as clock distribution, phase-locked loop design, RF impedance matching and more.

Figure 3: ADIsimRF – Zero IF IQ Upconverter Design

For a complex RF hardware electrical system, the design process can be significantly shortened through the use of a rapid prototyping platform.  ADI provides a number of prototyping platforms covering a wide range of applications, including RF system design.  These systems allow early evaluation of a design so that the system can be tested, debugged and quickly modified if necessary.

A configurable RF prototyping system that employs a software defined radio (SDR) approach is a powerful tool for rapid product development.  ADI provides a selection of FMCOMMS and ARRadio high performance SDR evaluation platforms which operate with both FMC and HMC based FPGAs platforms. A variety of reference designs are provided, which include the hardware and software needed to rapidly bring up a prototype to meet the requirements of a target application.  By taking advantage of this platform and the tools and resources provided by ADI, a system that might normally take weeks or even months to build can be implemented in a matter of days. 

What to Expect from ADI in the Future
A commitment to empowering customers to solve difficult problems and add value to their products is what sets ADI apart.  By providing a broad product portfolio, high performance components and an assortment of tools and resources, ADI enables customers to develop world class RF solutions.  As new technological challenges arise, look to ADI to continue to supply innovative products, with higher performance, increased integration of features and expended levels of configuration and flexibility, as well as new tools and resources.