16-bit AWGs offer 8 channels per PCIe card

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Spectrum Instrumentation has expanded its arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) line with two new PCIe cards that offer eight channels on a single card for greater flexibility in test systems. The two eight-channel cards are available with the “65” (M2p.65xx) series of PCIe AWGs, and by using Spectrum’s Star-Hub, up to 80 channels can be synchronized in a single PC. The Star-Hub piggy-back module distributes a common clock and all trigger signals to each card to ensure fully synchronous operation.

By offering up to eight channels per card, the cost per channel is cut significantly, said Spectrum. System cost for the card-based AWG solutions are also less expensive than dedicated, self-contained AWG solutions, even when the cost of the PC to house the cards is factored into the total cost, said the company.

The affordability of the new solution opens up new application opportunities that were limited previously due to the higher cost of multi-point dedicated AWG solutions. The AWG cards are easy to integrate with other test and measurement devices after installation in a PC.

By using the PCIe-x4 platform, the AWGs provide a data transfer speed that is five to 10 times higher than in other solutions, offering 700 MByte/s of FIFO streaming speed, according to Spectrum. This makes the solution suited for automated testing applications that need to replay different test signals over many channels to accurately recreate real-world test conditions. Applications include component testing, automotive, robotics, aerospace, medical and industrial ultrasound, LIDAR, radar, and sonar.

Standard cards in the “65” series offer 512 MSamples of on-board memory to store and replay waveforms for faster automated testing applications that use signals in the frequency range from DC to 60 MHz. Benefits of the new cards include 20% lower noise than predecessor AWG families and a clock that offers 20 times higher accuracy at ±1 ppm.

The two new cards are the M2p.6533-x4 with eight 40-MS/s channels, which is priced at $6,570, and the M2p.6568-x4, which can be configured with eight channels of 80 MS/s or four channels of 125 MS/s and is priced at $8,900. The eight-channel versions are equipped with an additional cooling system, making them two slots wide. The cards are shipped with Spectrum's SBench 6 control software.

All eight models of the M2p.65xx series are half-length PCIe cards that measure 168 mm in length. The maximum output swing, even with the eight-channel versions, is ±6 V into 1 MΩ or ±3 V into 50 Ω.

Here’s a four-minute video  for more information about the AWG series.