PDSP16350
5
4) DC can be generated since the increment value can be
zero.
5) Frequency stability will match the stability of the incoming
frequency when the increment is fixed.
The residual noise characteristics of an oscillator are very
important in modern communication systems. This parameter
defines how well the device maintains its set frequency for
very short periods (nanoseconds to seconds) of time. Poor
figures will significantly affect the system signal to noise ratio
and limit the dynamic range.
The PDSP16350 will, of course, inherit the residual noise
characteristics of the source of the incoming frequency. The
output frequency is, however, always less than half the
incoming frequency in order to satisfy the Nyquist criterion.
This is in contrast to a phase locked loop synthesiser, when a
small input frequency controls a high output frequency.
The commonly used 20 log N rule states that the phase
noise at the output of a synthesiser will be no better than
twenty times the log of the ratio of the output frequency to the
input frequency. In a phase locked loop synthesiser N is large,
in the PDSP16350 it is less than half. Log N is thus less than
zero and phase noise improvement is obtained.
The output waveforms are produced after a pipeline delay
with respect to the DIN inputs. The effects of the JUMP or RES
commands are delayed such that all data in the internal pipe
will be processed before the discontinuity occurs. New data
may be presented to the device on the cycle following the
JUMP or RES and a valid result will be obtained after 31 clock
cycles.
DEVICE OPERATION
Sine and cosine are simultaneously produced by the
Cordic processor, which is addressed by the upper 16 bits of
the output from a 34 bit phase accumulator. The accumulator
divides the digital phase circle into a number of steps, one step
for each state of the accumulator. When the accumulator
reaches its maximum value it overflows back to zero and the
sequence is repeated.
The accumulator is incremented once per incoming clock
cycle, by an amount which defines the frequency which is to
be generated. The increment required is defined by :
Desired O/P Frequency
Increment = x 2
N
Incoming Clock Frequency
where N is the number of bits in the accumulator. Since the
Nyquist criteria for proper waveform reconstruction must still
be obeyed, the maximum output frequency is half the incoming frequency. In practice, when a return is made to the analog
world, just meeting the minimum Nyquist requirement would
require a ‘brick wall’ low pass filter to remove the alias signals.
A more useful ‘rule of thumb’ is to limit the generated waveforms to less than 40% of the clock frequency.
The resolution, or tuning sensitivity, of the waveform
generator is given by :
Incoming Clock Frequency
Resolution = Hz
2
N
These equations illustrate some very important features of
direct digital synthesisers :-
1) Tuning sensitivity is defined by both the number of bits in
the accumulator and the incoming time base frequency.
2) The oscillator tunes linearly over its entire range.
3) The frequency accuracy matches the accuracy of the
incoming increment value.
1 2 3 4 5
CLK
RESET
DATA IN
RESULT
30 31 32 33 34 35
PI PI
A B
Device Reset Apply phase increment First Result Available
C D
JUMP
MODE
CEN
Fig. 3 Fixed Frequency Timing Diagram