ANALOG DEVICES EVAL-ADRF5700 5-Bit Silicon Digital Attenuator User Guide
- June 15, 2024
- Analog Devices
Table of Contents
User Guide | EVAL-ADRF5700
UG-2152
Evaluating the ADRF5700, 2 dB LSB, 5-Bit, Silicon Digital Attenuator, 100 MHz
to 22 GHz
FEATURES
- Full featured evaluation board for the ADRF5700
- Simple connection to test equipment
- Through line for calibration
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
- DC power supplies
- Network analyzer
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The ADRF5700 is a 100 MHz to 22 GHz, 2 dB LSB, 5-bit digital attenuator
manufactured in the silicon process.
This user guide describes the ADRF5700-EVALZ evaluation board, which was
designed to simply evaluate the features and performance of the ADRF5700. A
photograph of the evaluation board is shown in Figure 1.
The ADRF5700 data sheet provides full specifications for the ADRF5700. Consult
the ADRF5700 data sheet in conjunction with this user guide when using the
ADRF5700-EVALZ.
ADRF5700-EVALZ EVALUATION BOARD PHOTOGRAPH
EVALUATION BOARD HARDWARE
OVERVIEW
The ADRF5700-EVALZ is a connectorized board, assembled with the ADRF5700 and
its application circuitry. All components are placed on the primary side of
ADRF5700-EVALZ. An assembly drawing for the ADRF5700-EVALZ is shown in Figure
6 and an evaluation board schematic is shown in Figure 5.
BOARD LAYOUT
The ADRF5700-EVALZ was designed using RF circuit design techniques on a
4-layer printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB stack up is shown in Figure 2.
The outer copper layers are 1.5 mil thick and the inner layers are 0.7 mil
thick.
The top dielectric material is 12 mil Rogers 4003, which provides 50 Ω
controlled impedance and optimizes the high-frequency performance. All RF
traces are routed on the top layer, and the second layer is used as the ground
plane for RF transmission lines.
The remaining two layers are also ground planes filled with FR4 material to
manage the thermal rise during high-power operations and are supported with
dense and filled vias to the PCB bottom for thermal relief. The overall board
thickness is approximately 62 mil for mechanical strength.
The RF transmission lines are designed using a coplanar waveguide (CPWG) model
with a width of 16 mil and ground spacing of 6 mil to have a characteristic
impedance of 50 Ω. Ground via fences are arranged on both sides of a CPWG to
improve isolation between nearby RF lines and other signal lines.
The exposed ground pad of the ADRF5700, which is soldered on the PCB ground
pad, is the main thermal conduit for heat dissipation. The PCB ground pad is
densely populated with filled, through vias to provide the lowest possible
thermal resistance path from the top to the bottom of the PCB. The connections
from the package ground leads to ground are kept as short as possible.
POWER SUPPLY AND CONTROL INPUTS
The ADRF5700-EVALZ has two power supply inputs, six control inputs, and a
ground, as shown in Table 1. The DC test points are populated on VDD, VSS, LE,
D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, and GND.
A 3.3 V supply is connected to the DC test point on VDD and a −3.3 V supply is
connected to the DC test point on VSS. Ground reference can be connected to
GND. Connect the control inputs, LE, D2, D3, D4, D5, and D6 to 3.3 V or 0 V.
The typical total current consumption for the ADRF5700 is 0.87 mA for control
inputs = 0 V, and 0.67 mA for control inputs = 3.3 V.
The VDD and VSS supply pins of the ADRF5700 are decoupled with 100 pF
capacitors.
Table 1. Power Supply and Control Inputs
Test Points | Description |
---|---|
VDD | +3.3 V supply voltage |
VSS | −3.3 V supply voltage |
LE | Latch enable input |
D2 | Parallel control input for 2 dB attenuator bit |
D3 | Parallel control input for 4 dB attenuator bit |
D4 | Parallel control input for 8 dB attenuator bit |
D5 | Parallel control input for the first 16 dB attenuator bit |
D6 | Parallel control input for the second 16 dB attenuator bit |
GND | Ground |
RF INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
The ADRF5700-EVALZ has four edge mounted, 2.92 mm connectors for the RF inputs
and outputs, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. RF Inputs and Outputs
2.92 mm Connectors | Description |
---|---|
ATTIN | Attenuator input |
ATTOUT | Attenuator output |
THRU1 | Through line input and output |
THRU2 | Through line input and output |
The through calibration line, connecting the THRU1 and THRU2 RF connectors, calibrates out the board loss effects from the measurements of the ADRF5700-EVALZ to determine the device performance at the pins of the IC. Figure 3 shows the typical board loss for the ADRF5700-EVALZ at room temperature, as well as the embedded and deembedded insertion loss for the ADRF5700.
EVALUATION BOARD HARDWARE
TEST PROCEDURE
BIASING SEQUENCE
To bias up the ADRF5700-EVALZ, perform the following steps:
- Ground the GND test point.
- Bias up the VDD test point.
- Bias up the VSS test point
- Bias up the LE, D2, D3, D4, D5, and D6 test points.
- Apply an RF input signal.
The ADRF5700-EVALZ is shipped fully assembled and tested.
Figure 4 provides a basic test setup diagram to evaluate the S-parameters using a network analyzer. Perform the following steps to complete the test setup and to verify the operation of the ADRF5700-EVALZ in direct parallel mode:
- Connect the GND test point to the ground terminal of the power supply.
- Connect the VDD test point to the voltage output terminal of the +3.3 V supply.
- Connect the VSS test point to the voltage output terminal of the −3.3 V supply.
- Connect the LE, D2, D3, D4, D5, and D6 test points to the voltage output terminal of the 3.3 V supply. The ADRF5700 can be configured to have different attenuation levels by connecting the control test points to 3.3 V or 0 V, as shown in Table 3.
- Connect a calibrated network analyzer to the ATTIN and ATTOUT 2.92 mm connectors. Sweep the frequency from 100 MHz to 22 GHz and set the power to –10 dBm.
Additional test equipment is needed to fully evaluate the ADRF5700-EVALZ functions and performance.
For third-order intercept point evaluation, use two signal generators and a
spectrum analyzer. A high isolation power combiner is also recommended.
For power compression and power handling evaluations, use a 2channel power
meter and a signal generator. A high enough power amplifier is also
recommended at the input.
Test accessories, such as couplers and attenuators, must have enough power
handling.
Note that the measurements performed at the 2.92 mm connectors of the
ADRF5700-EVALZ include the losses of the 2.92 mm connectors and the PCB. The
through line must be measured to calibrate out the effects on the ADRF5700-
EVALZ. The through line is the summation of an RF input line and an RF output
line that are connected to the ADRF5700-EVALZ and equal in length.
Table 3. Truth Table
Digital Control Input1
D62| D52| D4| D3| D2| Attenuation State (dB)
Low| Low| Low| Low| Low| 0 (reference)
Low| Low| Low| Low| High| 2
Low| Low| Low| High| Low| 4
Low| Low| High| Low| Low| 8
Low| High| Low| Low| Low| 16 (D5)
High| Low| Low| Low| Low| 16 (D6)
High| High| High| High| High| 46
- Any combination of the VCTRL input states provides an attenuation equal to the sum of the bits selected.
- D5 and D6 both correspond to the 16 dB state. D5 has slightly better state accuracy at higher frequencies.
EVALUATION BOARD SCHEMATIC AND ARTWORK
EVALUATION BOARD SCHEMATIC AND ARTWORK
ORDERING INFORMATION
BILL OF MATERIALS
Table 4. Bill of Materials for the ADRF5700-EVALZ
Quantity| Reference Designator| Description| Manufacturer|
Part Number
---|---|---|---|---
2
6
2
2
2
1
1
1| C1, C2
R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6
ATTIN, ATTOUT
THRU1, THRU2
VDD, VSS
P1
U1
PCB| Capacitors, 100 pF, 50 V, C0402 package
Resistor, 0 Ω, 0402 package
Edge mount 2.92 mm connectors
Edge mount 2.92 mm connectors do not insert (DNI)
Through hole, hold mount test points
18-pin male header, double row
Silicon, 2 dB LSB, 5-bit digital attenuator, 100 MHz to
22 GHz
ADRF5700-EVALZ| Murata
Yageo
Hirose Electric
Hirose Electric
Components
Corporation
Molex
Analog Devices, Inc.
Analog Devices| GCM1555C1H101JA16D
RC0402JR-070RL
HK-LR-SR2(12)
HK-LR-SR2(12)
TP-104-01-00
87759-1850
ADRF5700BCCZN
BR-065294
ESD Caution
ESD (electrostatic discharge) sensitive device. Charged devices and circuit
boards can discharge without detection. Although this product features
patented or proprietary protection circuitry, damage may occur on devices
subjected to high energy ESD. Therefore, proper ESD precautions should be
taken to avoid performance degradation or loss of functionality.
Legal Terms and Conditions
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components documentation or support materials, the “Evaluation Board”), you
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