32-channel, 40-MHz pulse-pattern-generator board works with seven logic families, stores 4-Gbit patterns
By Dan Strassberg -- EDN, June 10, 2004
Strategic Test’s Ultrafast UF7221, a 32-channel, 40-MHz pulse-pattern generator, whose output is compatible with ECL, PECL, TTL, LVDS, LVTTL, CMOS, and LVCMOS logic levels, fits onto a full-length PCI card, which costs $5290. For that price, the manufacturer equips the unit with 128 Mbits of pattern memory, whose width you can configure in 4-bit increments (Picture). When you select the pattern width, the board automatically configures its memory to provide the greatest possible pattern depth. Four-bit-wide patterns are thus 32 Mbits deep, and 32-bit-wide patterns are 4 Mbits deep. The largest memory—4 Gbits ($12,717)—can store 32-bit-wide, 128-Mbit-deep patterns or narrower patterns of greater depth. A 6U CompactPCI version (UC7221) and a 3U PXI version (UX7221) are also available.
You can separately program the output levels of each 4-bit output group in 10-mV increments from –2 to +10V. Each channel supplies as much as 100 mA to a maximum of 200 mA per 4-bit group. You can also separately configure each 4-bit group to produce single-ended or differential outputs. Choosing a differential configuration—for example, to drive LVDS or ECL inputs—does not reduce the number of channels in the group.
Prices include software drivers for Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and Linux; drivers for the MathWorks’ MatLab, National Instruments’ LabView and DasyLab, and Agilent’s VEE (www.mathworks.com, www.ni.com, www.agilent.com) are available at additional cost.
The board has two operating modes. In the standard mode, you transfer data to the onboard memory before starting the output. In this mode, you can use all 32 channels at the maximum 40-MHz output rate. The FIFO mode uses the card’s PCI bus-master capability to continuously transfer data from the PC to the card during output, allowing generation of patterns deeper than the available onboard memory. In either mode, the board can repeat patterns much faster than traditional IEEE-488-based pattern generators, whose maximum data-transfer rate from the host PC to the instrument is typically 1 Mbyte/sec.
Strategic Test Corp, 1-617-621-4010, www.strategic-test.com.
