ADLINK PCI-9846 User Manual

PCI/PXI-9816/26/46

4-CH 16-Bit 10/20/40 MS/s Digitizer

with 512 MB SDRAM

User’s Manual

Manual Rev. 2.02

Revision Date: October 5, 2010

Part No: 50-17031-1020

Advance Technologies; Automate the World.

Copyright 2010 ADLINK TECHNOLOGY INC.

All Rights Reserved.

The information in this document is subject to change without prior
notice in order to improve reliability, design, and function and does
not represent a commitment on the part of the manufacturer.

In no event will the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect, spe­cial, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or
inability to use the product or documentation, even if advised of
the possibility of such damages.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents..................................................................... i

List of Tables.......................................................................... iii

List of Figures ........................................................................ iv

1 Introduction ........................................................................ 1

1.1 Features............................................................................... 3

1.2 Applications ......................................................................... 3

1.3 Specifications....................................................................... 4

2 Getting Started ................................................................. 19

2.1 Installation Environment .................................................... 19

2.2 Package Contents ............................................................. 20

2.3 Mechanical Drawing and I/O Connectors .......................... 21

2.4 Installing the module.......................................................... 23

2.5 Software Support ............................................................... 24

Driver Support for Windows .......................................... 24

WD-DASK (Legacy Drivers and Support) ..................... 26

3 Operation Theory ............................................................. 27

3.1 Functional Block Diagram.................................................. 27

3.2 Basic AI Acquisition ........................................................... 28

Analog Input Path ......................................................... 28

Basic Acquisition Timing ............................................... 28

AI Data Format ............................................................. 30

3.3 ADC Sampling Rate and TIMEBASE Control.................... 31

Internal Oscillator .......................................................... 31

External Clock Through Front Panel ............................. 31

External Clock from PXI Interfaces ............................... 32

Sampling Rate Control .................................................. 32

Timebase Exporting ...................................................... 33

3.4 Trigger Sources ................................................................. 34

Software Trigger ........................................................... 34

External Digital Trigger ................................................. 35

Analog Trigger .............................................................. 36

PXI STAR Trigger ......................................................... 37

PXI Trigger Bus ............................................................ 37

Table of Contents i

Trigger Signal Exporting ............................................... 38

3.5 Trigger Modes.................................................................... 39

Post-trigger Acquisition ................................................. 39

Pre-trigger Acquisition .................................................. 40

Middle-trigger Acquisition ............................................. 41

Delay-trigger Acquisition ............................................... 41

Post-trigger or Delay-trigger Acquisition

with Re-trigger .................................................... 42

3.6 Data Transfers ................................................................... 43

3.7 Synchronizing Multiple Modules ........................................ 44

SSI_TIMEBASE ............................................................ 47

SSI_TRIG1 ................................................................... 48

SSI_TRIG2 and SSI_START_OP ................................. 49

Comparing the Different Trigger Sources from SSI ...... 50

3.8 Physical Location of the PXI and PCI Digitizer .................. 52

Identify PXI Digitizer’s Physical Location

by Geographic Address ...................................... 52

Assign a Board ID to a PCI Digitizer ............................. 52

Important Safety Instructions............................................... 55

ii Table of Contents

List of Tables

Table 1-1: Analog Input Specifications ...................................... 4

Table 1-2: Offset and Gain Error ............................................... 4

Table 1-3: -3dB Bandwidth, typical ............................................ 5

Table 1-4: System Noise ........................................................... 7

Table 1-5: Spectral Characteristics – PCI/PXI-9816 .................. 8

Table 1-6: Spectral Characteristics – PXI-9826 ....................... 10

Table 1-7: Spectral Characteristics – PCI/PXI-9846 ................ 12

Table 1-8: Timebase ................................................................ 14

Table 1-9: Triggering ............................................................... 15

Table 1-10: Data Storage and Transfer ..................................... 16

Table 1-11: Onboard Reference ................................................ 16

Table 1-12: General Information ................................................ 17

Table 2-1: Connector Pin Assignments ................................... 22

Table 3-1: Basic Counters ....................................................... 29

Table 3-2: AI Data Format ....................................................... 30

Table 3-3: Ideal Transfer Characteristics for Analog Triggers . 36
Table 3-4: Summary of SSI timing Signals and

the Corresponding Function ................................... 44

Table 3-5: SSI Signal Locations and Pin Definition ................. 47

Table 3-6: Board ID Combination Conditions .......................... 54

List of Tables iii

List of Figures

Figure 1-1: PCI/PXI-9816 Bandwidth Chart

(50 Ω input impedance) ............................................. 6

Figure 1-2: PCI/PXI-9826 Bandwidth Chart

(50 Ω input impedance) ............................................. 6

Figure 1-3: PXI-9846 Bandwidth Chart (50 Ω input impedance).. 7

Figure 1-4: PXI-9816 FFT with ±0.2 V Input Range..................... 8

Figure 1-5: PXI-9816 FFT with ±1 V Input Range........................ 9

Figure 1-6: PXI-9826 FFT with ±0.2 V Input Range................... 10

Figure 1-7: PXI-9826 FFT with ±1 V Input Range...................... 11

Figure 1-8: PXI-9846 FFT with ±0.2 V Input Range................... 12

Figure 1-9: PXI-9846 FFT with ±1 V Input Range...................... 13

Figure 2-1: PXI-98x6 Mechanical Drawing................................. 21

Figure 2-2: PCI-98x6 Mechanical Drawing ................................ 21

Figure 2-3: DAQPilot Main Interface .......................................... 24

Figure 2-4: DAQMaster Device Manager................................... 25

Figure 2-5: Legacy Software Support Overview ........................ 26

Figure 3-1: PXI-98x6 Functional Block Diagram ....................... 27

Figure 3-2: PCI-98x6 Functional Block Diagram........................ 27

Figure 3-3: Analog Input Signal Block Diagram ......................... 28

Figure 3-4: Basic Acquisition Timing Of Digitizer ....................... 30

Figure 3-5: PCI/PXI-98x6 Timebase Source and Architecture... 31
Figure 3-6: Configuring Different Sampling Rate of a Digitizer. . 33

Figure 3-7: PCI/PXI-98x6 Trigger Architecture .......................... 34

Figure 3-8: External Digital Trigger Polarity

and Pulse Width Requirement. ................................ 35

Figure 3-9: Analog Trigger Conditions ....................................... 37

Figure 3-10: TRG IO Output Signal Timing.................................. 38

Figure 3-11: Post-trigger Acquisition............................................ 39

Figure 3-12: Pre-trigger Mode Operation ..................................... 40

Figure 3-13: Pre-trigger Mode Operation ..................................... 40

Figure 3-14: Middle-trigger Mode Operation ................................ 41

Figure 3-15: Delay-trigger Mode Operation ................................. 41

Figure 3-16: Re-trigger Mode Operation. ..................................... 42

Figure 3-17: Scatter-Gather DMA for Data Transfer .................... 43

Figure 3-18: SSI Architecture....................................................... 45

Figure 3-19: SSI Connector Location on the PCI-9816/26/46...... 46

Figure 3-20: Installation of ACL-SSI-2 Cable ............................... 46

Figure 3-21: SSI_TRIG1 Input and Output Timing

iv List of Figures

Characteristics......................................................... 48

Figure 3-22: SSI_TRIG2 Output Timing....................................... 49

Figure 3-23: SSI_TRIG2 Input Timing Requirement.................... 49

Figure 3-24: SSI_START_OP Output and Input Timing

Characteristics......................................................... 50

Figure 3-25: The Location of Board ID Switch ............................. 53

Figure 3-26: Enlargement of Board ID setting. ............................ 53

List of Figures v

vi List of Figures

1 Introduction

The ADLINK PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 are 10 MS/s, 20 MS/s, and 40
MS/s sampling 16-bit 4-CH digitizers designed for digitizing high
frequency and wide dynamic range signals with an input frequency
up to 20 MHz. The analog input range can be programmed via
software to ±1 V or ±0.2 V. With deep onboard acquisition memory
up to 512 MB, the PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 are not limited by the data
transfer rate of the PCI bus to enable the recording of waveforms
for extended periods of time.

The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 are equipped with four high linearity 16­bit A/D converters ideal for demanding applications with a high
dynamic range such as radar, ultrasound, and software-defined
radio.

Analog Input

The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 each feature four analog input channels.
The bandwidth of each channel can be up to 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and
20 MHz for PCI/PXI-9816, PCI/PXI-9826, and PCI/PXI-9846,
respectively. The input ranges are software programmable as
either ±1 V or ±0.2 V. Software selectable 50 Ω input impedance
makes it easy to interface with high-speed, high-frequency sig­nals.

Acquisition System and On-board Memory

The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 include four 16-bit A/D converters to digi­tize the input signals. These four channels sample signals simulta­neously at a maximum sampling rate of 10 MS/s, 20 MS/s, and 40
MS/s, respectively. The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 supports a total of
512 MB on-board memory. The digitized data is stored in the on­board memory before being transferred to the host memory. The
data transfer is performed using scatter-gather DMA, which pro­vides a high data throughput rate and uses system memory more
effectively.

Introduction 1

Flexible Triggering

The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 feature flexible triggering options such as
a software trigger, external digital trigger, an analog trigger from
any of the analog input channels and triggers from the PXI trigger
bus. These versatile trigger sources allow you to configure the
PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 to fit your application needs. Post-trigger,
delay-trigger, pre-trigger and middle-trigger modes are also avail­able to acquire data around the trigger event. The PCI/PXI-9816/
26/46 also features repeated trigger acquisition, so you can
acquire data in multiple segments with successive trigger events
at extremely short rearming intervals.

Multiple-Module Synchronization

The versatile trigger options provided by the PXI backplane allow
the PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 to achieve multi-module synchronization
in a simplified way. Utilizing the PXI Trigger bus, the PCI/PXI­9816/26/46 can output trigger signals and the timebase to the PXI
trigger bus when configured as a master, or receive trigger signals
and the timebase from the PXI trigger bus when configured as a
slave. Moreover, when the PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 is plugged into a
peripheral slot of a PXI system, they can also receive triggers or
the timebase from the PXI star trigger controller slot. The precision
10 MHz clock that comes from the PXI backplane can also be
used as one of the timebase sources. Combining these PXI trigger
features with the interface of the PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 makes it
very easy to synchronize multiple modules.

Calibration

The PCI/PXI-9816/26/46 include a precision on-board reference
with very low temperature drift. This feature not only provides a
stable calibration source for auto-calibration but also maintains
stable acquisition accuracy over a wide temperature range. The
automated calibration process can be done through software with­out need for any manually adjustments. Once the calibration pro­cess has completed, the calibration information will be stored in
the on-board EEPROM so that the values can be loaded and used
as needed by the board.

2Introduction

1.1 Features

 3U Eurocard form factor (PXI version)

 Standard height, half-length PCI form factor (PCI version)

 Support 5 V and 3.3 V PCI signaling

 Support 32-bit / 66 MHz PCI interface

 4 channels simultaneous single-ended analog input

 16-bit high resolution ADC

 Up to 10 MS/s, 20 MS/s and 40 MS/s per channel

 512 MB onboard memory for data storage

 Software selectable 50 Ω or 1 MΩ input impedance

 Programmable input voltage range: ±0.2V/±1V or ±1V/±5V

 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz analog input bandwidth for

PCI/PXI-9816, PCI/PXI-9826 and PCI/PXI-9846, respec­tively

 Multiple modules synchronization through PXI trigger bus

 Support scatter gather DMA transfer

 Fully auto calibration

 90 dBc SFDR, 79 dBc SINAD and 12.8-bit ENOB (PXI-

9816)

1.2 Applications

 Software radio/wireless communication

 Radar/Sonar/Lidar

 Ultrasound

 Imaging

 Military/Laboratory/Research

Introduction 3

1.3 Specifications

Analog Input

Specification Value

Number of Channels 4 single-ended channels

Input Connector BNC

Input Impedance 50 Ω or 1 MΩ, software selectable, default 50Ω

Input Coupling DC

Input Range (±0.2V, ±1V) or (±1V, ±5V), software selectable

Overvoltage Protection

ADC Resolution 16-Bit, 1 in 65536

Crosstalk

Table 1-1: Analog Input Specifications

Offset Error

Model Name

Offset Error ±0.2 mV ±0.3 mV

Gain Error

Input Range ±0.2 V ±1 V ±1 V ±5 V

Gain Error ±0.1% ±0.05% ±0.1% ±0.06%

Note: When calculating offset error and gain error, sampled data are averaged with 65536 points
and AI channel configured with 50 Ω input impedance.

±5V for (±0.2V, ±1V)
±15V for (±1V, ±5V)

≤-80 dB at 1MHz, for all input ranges at 50 Ω input
impedance

PXI-9816D
PXI-9826D
PXI-9846D
PXI-9846W
PCI-9846D

PXI-9846H,
PCI-9816H
PCI-9826H
PCI-9846H

Table 1-2: Offset and Gain Error

4Introduction

-3dB Bandwidth, typical

Input Range PXI-9816D PXI -9826D

@50 Ω and 1 MΩ impedance

±0.2 V, ±1 V 5.1 MHz 9.6 MHz 20 MHz

Input Range PCI-9816H PCI-9826H

@50 Ω and impedance

±1 V, ±5 V 5.1 MHz 9.6 MHz 20 MHz ---

@ 1 MΩ impedance

±1 V, ±5 V 90 KHz ---

Table 1-3: -3dB Bandwidth, typical

PXI-9846D
PCI-9846D

PXI-9846H
PCI-9846H

PXI-9846W

80 MHz (±1 V)
50 MHz (±0.2 V)

---

Introduction 5

Figure 1-1: PCI/PXI-9816 Bandwidth Chart (50 Ω input impedance)

0.1M 1M 10M

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

Frequen cy (Hz)

Amplitude (dB)

PXI-9816

0.1M 1M 10M

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

Frequen cy (Hz)

Amplitude (dB)

PXI-9826

Figure 1-2: PCI/PXI-9826 Bandwidth Chart (50 Ω input impedance)

6Introduction

Figure 1-3: PXI-9846 Bandwidth Chart (50 Ω input impedance)

0.1M 1M 10M

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

Frequen cy (Hz)

Amplitude (dB)

PXI-9846

System Noise (measured and calculated under 50 Ω input impedance)

Input Range PXI-9816D PXI-9826D PXI-9846D PXI-9846W PCI-9846D

±0.2 V

±1 V

5.0 LSB

3.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

6.0 LSB

4.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

8.0 LSB

5.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

15.0 LSB

7.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

8.0 LSB

5.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

Input Range PCI-9816H PCI-9826H PCI-9846H PXI-9846H

±1 V

±5 V

5.0 LSB

3.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

6.0 LSB

4.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

8.0 LSB

5.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

8.0 LSB

5.0 LSB

RMS

RMS

Table 1-4: System Noise

Introduction 7

Spectral Characteristics – PXI-9816

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

x 10

6

-1 20

-1 00

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

Freq uency (Hz)

Magnitu de (dB)

PXI- 9816, +/-0.2V , S-Rate = 10 MS/s, Input Signal = 0 .998 MHz @ -0.97 d BFs

Specification Input Range

±1 V ±0.2 V

Signal to Noise and Distortion (SINAD), typical 79.11 dBc 75.93 dBc

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), typical 79.36 dBc 75.96 dBc

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), typical -89.90 dBc -95.77 dBc

Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR), typical 90.37 dBc 98.65 dBc

Effective Number of Bit (ENOB), typical 12.85-Bit 12.32-Bit

Test Conditions: Input signal frequency is 0.998 MHz. Digitizer sampling
rate at 10 MHz with 50 Ω input impedance. Calculated with 64 K-point data.

Note that these dynamic parameters may vary from one unit to another, with
input frequency and with the full scale input range selected.

Table 1-5: Spectral Characteristics – PCI/PXI-9816

Figure 1-4: PXI-9816 FFT with ±0.2 V Input Range

8Introduction

Figure 1-5: PXI-9816 FFT with ±1 V Input Range

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

x 10

6

-1 20

-1 00

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

Freq uency (Hz)

Magnitu de (dB)

PXI- 9816, +/-1V, S -Rate = 10MS/s, I nput Signal = 0. 998 MHz @ -1.1993 dBFS

Introduction 9

Spectral Characteristics – PXI-9826

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

x 10

6

-1 20

-1 00

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

Freq uency (Hz)

Magnitu de (dB)

PX-9 826, + /-0.2 V, S-R ate = 2 0MS/s , Input Signal = 0.9 98 MHz @ - 0.87 54 dB Fs

Specification Input Range

±1 V ±0.2 V

Signal to Noise and Distortion (SINAD), typical 78.63 dBc 74.44 dBc

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), typical 79.95 dBc 74.48 dBc

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), typical -88.29 dBc -93.52 dBc

Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR), typical 88.88dBc 95.52 dBc

Effective Number of Bit (ENOB), typical 12.77-Bit 12.07-Bit

Test Conditions: Input signal frequency is 0.998 MHz. Digitizer sampling
rate at 20 MHz with 50 Ω input impedance. Calculated with 64 K-point data.

Note that these dynamic parameters may vary from one unit to another, with
input frequency and with the full scale input range selected.

Table 1-6: Spectral Characteristics – PXI-9826

Figure 1-6: PXI-9826 FFT with ±0.2 V Input Range

10 Introduction