“PROBLEMS” WITH THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF NEW “VME” MODULES

·        Budgets are always a problem

·        Advances in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) both in speed, cost and performance is dramatic

·        Analog chip improvement in performance, physical size and reduced cost

·        Developing new modules under these circumstances is expensive and time consuming

POSSIBLE “SOLUTION”

·        Offer an “INTELLIGENT” mother-daughter card   (specification tables)

JOERGER ENTERPRISES, INC. has been designing and manufacturing data acquisition modules for over 40 years.  We feel that a simpler method had to be developed to bring the advances in IC manufacture to users.  While there are a number of mother/daughter cards available they lack the ability to offer what we feel is required.  The Model VME-M motherboard is a 6u single width card designed to fit a VME64x crate.  It features live insertion and extraction and uses 3.3 volts to handle the latest SMT IC’s.  The logic is handled with re-programmable FPGA’s.  They feature high speed, low cost, small size, contain PLL’s, offers logic capacity in excess of what a module may require thus allowing user intervention.  All programming is done through a front panel JTAG connector.  The array has internal memory and computer capabilities.  One array interfaces to the VME bus and four additional arrays are available to drive up to 4 daughter cards.  In addition each daughter card slot has 2 independent SRAM memories to handle data.  These have separate controls so they can be used in sync or in a read/write fashion.  This should handle most of the common functions a module could require.  The standard memories are 256k x 32 bits but are available with up to 2M x 32.

The motherboard is available with 4 daughter slots to handle dense applications.  It addition it is available with 1 daughter card for less dense applications and one with no daughter arrays or memory to handle applications that do not require array capability.  In this way required features and cost can go hand in hand.

Each daughter card is completely independent.  It interfaces with the motherboard through 2 high-speed connectors.  The daughter card interfaces with the front panel and contains the programming chip for its motherboard array.  In general the daughter card will handle all the analog circuitry and the motherboard all the digital logic.  In this way noise and cross talk can be greatly reduced.  The following is a brief description of the cards available.  For more complete information go to their data sheets.  What is available so far is replacing our present line of modules.  As you will see density and performance have been significantly improved and because of this new approach prices are lower.  Obviously our intent is to sell you products.  If you have any thoughts on daughter cards you would like to see become available or have questions on existing modules please contact us.

FOUR CHANNEL ADC

The Model ADC4/14 contains 4 individual ADC’s.  They are available at clock speeds of 25Mhz, 80Mhz and 125Mhz.  Resolution is 14 bits.  The primary application for this module is waveform analysis.  To make the module more useful the front end can be set for single ended or differential inputs.  The input impedance can be set for 50, 100 or 100k ohms.  This provides applications for both high-speed signal terminations or operations where high impedance termination is important.  The high input allows monitoring signals without effecting circuit operation, similar to oscilloscopes.  On single ended applications full-scale input offset is available using 12 bit DAC’s.  With 4 of these daughter cards 16 high-speed digitizers are available in a single width 6u VME module.

APPLICATIONS:

  Analog Digitizers

Oscilloscope Type Analysis

DUAL CHANNEL WAVEFORM GENERATOR

The Model AWG125/14 is a dual channel waveform generator.  To insure accurate waveform generation a high-speed DAC is used.  Clock frequency can range from DC to 125Mhz.  The DAC has a typical glitch impulse of less than 5pV-seconds an important factor in waveform generation.  This feature provides the generation of clean wave shapes over a wide clock frequency range. The output range is programmable using a 12 bit DAC.  The driver has an output impedance of 50 ohms providing the ability to drive high-speed signals.  With 4 of these daughter cards 8 high-speed generators are available in a single width 6u VME module.

  APPLICATIONS:

 Instrumentation

Two, 512kword waveform generators

Low glitch impulse wave shapes over a wide frequency band

Complete control of addressing and control

Programmable output control

DUAL CHANNEL 125Mhz, 16 BIT ADC

The Model ADC125/16 is a dual channel ADC.  It has been designed for communication applications.  It uses the fastest, highest resolution ADC available.  It is intended for under-sampling of high input carrier frequencies.  To insure high performance a PLL is used along with a VCO for its clock source.  For these type applications a high performance ADC along with a very low jitter clock provide superior results.  The clock source is our internal crystal clock driving the PLL/VCO clock stabilizer which provides the required jitter free signal.  To insure all the daughter cards can operate synchronously the clock signals are generated in the VME array and transferred to each daughter card in an equally timed layout.  The signal input is AC coupled via a balum transformer, which drives the ADC differentially.  The input bandwidth is in excess of 500Mhz.  This means the input can accept a carrier frequency of between 5Mhz and 500Mhz.  With 4 of these daughter cards 8 high-speed digitizers are available in a single width 6u VME module.

APPLICATIONS:

 Analog Digitizers

Telecommunications

Receivers

Spectrum Analysis

Imaging Systems

ATE

ADC / DAC / COUNTER

The Model ADC/DAC is a daughter card that provides ADC’s, DAC’s and counters on a single daughter card.  This provides 12 individual 16 bit ADC’s, 4 individual 16 bit DAC’s and 3 independent up, down preset counters.  It uses a VME-M motherboard without daughter card arrays or memory.  Each daughter card is connected with 2 high-speed connectors to the VME array.  This card offers the user ADC’s, DAC’s and counters with all controls provided from the VME array that interfaces with the VMEbus.  The counters are done in an FPGA mounted on the daughter card and programmed from the JTAG connector.  This is mentioned because this array has I/O connections to the front panel and signals from the rear P2 counter.  What this means is that it could be programmed for many other features.  It uses the least expensive motherboard but offers many significant features.

APPLICATIONS:

12, Individual, 16 bit ADC’s, with sample and hold inputs and +/- 10 volt input

4, Individual, 16 bit DAC’s, with buffered output drivers and +/- 10 volt outputs

3, Individual, 16 bit up, down preset counters

FPGA for user programming, via JTAG control

FUTURE DAUGHTER CARDS:

STEPPING MOTOR CONTROLLER AND DRIVER

  ulti-channel stepping motor controller and driver.  Interface to a stripped VME-M motherboard.  Control provided in VME array.  Suggestions appreciated.

SIGNAL LEVEL CONVERTERS

  NIM, ECL, RS232, RS484, PECL converters and logic.  Interface to a stripped VME-M motherboard.  Logic control provided in VME array.  Suggestions appreciated.

"NEW CAMAC PRODUCTS"

A new "CAMAC" analog digitizer is announced, the Model TR. While there are few new CAMAC installations being instrumented there are a great many running. The Model TR uses the latest analog chips, field programmable gate array’s and surface mount technology. It is available with up to 16 individual channels, speeds to 40Mhz, 12 bit resolution, signal averaging, 512ksamples of static memory per channel and "FASTCAMAC" level 2 read out, all in a single width CAMAC module. Its input is wide band, high impedance and jumper selectable for single ended or differential. The module can be used for recording analog data or for system testing in place of an oscilloscope. To have the module better fit the application, it is available with 1, 4, 8 or 16 channels. In addition to the many features this module offers, it is also less costly than those now available. A data sheet is available to fully describe its features.