an9406

No. AN9406
Application Note
May 1994
Using the HI20201/03 Evaluation Kit
Author: Stephen G. LaJeunesse
Introduction
encoded current sources. The encoder converts the incoming 4
bits to 15 control lines to enable the most significant current
sources. The thermometer encoder will convert binary to individual control lines.
The HI20201 and HI20203 are 10-bit 160MHz and 8-bit
160MHz Digital to Analog Converters. These devices are
ECL 10K and 100K logic compatible. These current out
DACs are ideally suited for Signal Reconstruction and DDS
(Direct Digital Synthesis) applications due to their inherent
low noise design and low glitch area.
As shown in Figure 2 the thermometer encoder translates
the 4 bit binary input data into a decode that enables individual current sources. For example a binary code of 0110 on
the data bits D6 thru D9 will enable current sources I1, I2, I3,
I4, I5, and I6. The thermometer encoding architecture
ensures good linearity without laser trimming. Also compared to an straight R/2R design the worst case glitch is
greatly reduced since creating the MSB current is the sum of
current sources I1 thru I8. This reduces the theoretical
switching skew from current source to current source by
using identically sized switches with identical gain, leakage
and transient responses.
Architecture
The HI20201/03 DACs are designed with a split architecture
to minimize glitch while maximizing linearity. Figure 1 shows
the functional architecture of the device. The 6 least significant
bits of the converter are derived by a traditional R2R network to
binary weight the 1mA current sources. The upper 4, most significant bits are implemented as segmented or thermometer
(LSB) D0
D1
6 LSB’S
CURRENT
CELLS
D2
D3
R2R
NETWORK
D4
INPUT
8-BIT
REGISTER
BUFFER
D5
15
15
0
0
D6
D7
UPPER
4-BIT
ENCODER
D8
(MSB) D9
15
SWITCHED
CURRENT
CELLS
IOUT
COMPL
CLK
CLK
AVEE
AVSS
BIAS CURRENT
GENERATOR
CLOCK
BUFFER
DVEE
DVSS
FIGURE 1. HI20201/03 FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM
Copyright
© Intersil Corporation 1994
1-888-INTERSIL or 321-724-7143 | Copyright © Intersil Corporation 1999
3
VREF
Application Note 9406
I1
GLITCH AREA = 1/2 (H X W)
V
I2
BIT 6
HEIGHT (H)
I3
BIT 7
I4
BIT 8
BIT 9
(MSB)
WIDTH (W)
I5
t(ps)
FIGURE 3. GLITCH AREA
I6
Figure 4 and Figure 5 show a typical HI20201 glitch on a
high speed Analog oscilloscope. The evaluation board from
page 7 and page 8 was used, with the oscilloscope terminated 50Ω to ground.
I7
4-BIT BINARY
TO
THERMOMETER
ENCODER
I8
I9
I10
I11
I12
I13
I14
I15
I16
SUMMING
JUNCTION
(IOUT)
G.A. = 1/2 (H x W)
= 1/2(5.5mV x 1.62ns)
= 4.4pV-Sec
FIGURE 2. THERMOMETER ENCODER
Designing to Minimize Glitch
FIGURE 4. GLITCH WIDTH
One cause of glitch is the time skew between bits of the
incoming digital data. Typically the switching time of digital
inputs are asymmetrical meaning that the turn off time is
faster than the turn on time (TTL designs). In an ECL system
where the logic levels switch from one non-saturated level to
another, the switching times can be considered close to symmetrical. This helps to reduce glitch in the D/A. Unequal delay
paths through the device can also cause one current source
to change before another. To minimize this the Intersil
HI20201/03 employes an internal register, just prior to the
current sources, that is updated on the clock edge. In traditional DACs the worst case glitch usually happens at the
major transition i.e. 01 1111 1111 to 10 0000 0000. But in
the HI20201/03 the worst case glitch is moved to the
00 0001 1111 to 11 1110 0000 transition. This is achieved
by the split R2R/segmented current source architecture.
This decreases the amount of current switching at any one
time and makes the glitch practically constant over the
entire output range.
G.A. = 1/2 (H x W)
= 1/2(5.5mV x 1.62ns)
= 4.4pV-Sec
Since the glitch is a transient event this leads designers to
believe that a simple low pass filter can be used to eliminate or
reduce the size of the glitch. In effect low pass filtering a glitch
tends to “smear” the event and does little to remove the energy
of the transient.
FIGURE 5. GLITCH HEIGHT
4
Application Note 9406
Integral Linearity
INPUT CODE
The HI20201 has a FSR range of 20mA. When driving an equivalent 75Ω load the full scale voltage swing is 0 to +1.5V. Most
video and communication applications use a 1V pk-pk voltage
swing which yields 13mA full scale current sink capability.
With a 1V pk-pk voltage swing on the HI20201 output an
LSB is
11
-1.0 LSB
ERROR
(MISSING CODE)
10
LSB = Full Scale Range/2N
01
where N is the number of bits and the Full Scale Range is 1V.
-0.5 LSB ERROR
The LSB size for this application is 977µV. To determine the
Integral Linearity of the HI20201 the bit weights of each
major transition is taken. Since the End Point method is used
to calculate the overall INL the first measurements taken are
Offset and then the Full Scale Voltage. Then the ideal LSB
size for this given End Point line is used to calculate the INL
error.
OUTPUT
VOLTAGE
00
FIGURE 7. DNL EXAMPLE
As shown in Figure 7 as the input code increases the output
voltage should increase. When an error of 1 LSB is incurred
that bit can be assumed to be a missing code since the output did not increase, but, rather, remained the same.
The worst case linearity of the HI20201 is specified to be
less than 1 LSBs. The linearity of the HI20201 is worst in
the segmented current sources in the thermometer encoded
section. This is due to the errors of each current source
being biased in one direction and being additive with
increasing data values. The R/2R resistor matching needs
be to a 6 bit level to ensure overall 10-bit linearity. Process
control of resistor matching in the Bipolar process used is
easily adequate to do the job. For the overall transfer function the typical INL performance is shown in Figure 6.
Switching Noise
The HI20201/03 is an ECL compatible input device. Most
systems today are TTL/CMOS where switching levels are
typically 0 to +5V. (See Figure 8 for Logic Levels).
TTL
CMOS
ECL (10K)
VIH (Max/Min)
4.0V/2.0V
5.0/2.4
-0.81/-0.96
VIL (Max/Min)
0.8V/0.0V
0.8V/0.0V
-1.65/-1.85
Noise Margin
1.2V
1.6V
0.125V
Rise/Fall Times
2.0ns
1.0ns
800ps
Maximum Clock
Rates
~50MHz
~80MHz
~500MHz
INL ERROR (LSBs)
0.1
OFFSET
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
-0.6
-0.7
-0.8
-0.9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 +F.S.
FIGURE 8. LOGIC LEVEL COMPARISON
In an ECL system, logic signals must be properly terminated
to ensure high speed operation. Typically a 50Ω resistor to a
-2V supply is adequate. Board trace impedance should also
have a characteristic Z0 of 50Ω. In an ECL system, the logic
swing runs a differential switching pair that operates in the
linear region of the transistor or FET. The reduced logic
swing and non-saturated logic makes an ECL converter
have a lower noise floor due to the reduced clock and
switching noise in the system.
FIGURE 6. INL TYPICAL PERFORMANCE CURVE
Differential Linearity and Missing Codes
For a D/A Converter, the differential linearity is the step size
difference throughout the entire code range. For the
HI20201, the step to step maximum difference is 0.5 LSBs.
For any given D/A converter, to guarantee no missing codes,
the converter must be monotonic.
The Evaluation Board
The HI20201/03 Evaluation board is a 1/2 size daughter
board designed to interface to the HSP-EVAL board. The
HSP-Eval is an Evaluation Platform for Intersil’ Fast Function DSP ICs. These boards when used together create a
flexible and powerful DDS system. The HSP45116 board is
used to generate the high speed digital SINE wave patterns
for the D/A module. The HI20201/03 board reconstructs the
incoming digital data to an analog representation that can be
analyzed on a spectrum analyzer or oscilloscope.
The definition of Monotonicity is that as the input code is
increased the output should increase. When an input code is
increased and the output of the DAC does not increase or
reverses direction then this converter is assumed to be missing codes.
5
Application Note 9406
Plugging In
After opening the HSP45116 board and the HI20201/03
board, power should be applied to the banana jacks. A +5V,
-5.2V and a -2.0V supply will be needed. To reduce noise the
power supply leads should be twisted pairs.
0
FUNDAMENTAL
(PURE TONE)
AMPLITUDE
(dB) -50
The interface cable should be connected to an IBM PC or
compatible parallel port. Power should be applied to the
board and then the software can be started. The software
can be run directly from floppy disk. To run the software
place the floppy disk into drive A: and type:
NOISE FLOOR
-85
f
A: NCOMCTRL
1MHz
fN
The HSP45116 Control Panel will be loaded. To exercise the
board the following parameters should be set:
FIGURE 9. FREQUENCY PLOT OF 1MHZ TONE
The fundamental of a pure 1MHz tone should appear as an
impulse in the frequency domain at 1MHz. In a sampled system noise terms are produced near the sampling frequencies called aliases. These aliases are related to the
fundamental in that they are located fN around the sampling
frequency as shown in Figure 10.
BINFMT# = 0
and then set the Center Frequency to:
CENTER FREQUENCY = 01000000H
where the center frequency is in hex. At this point the output
of the HI20201/03 DAC module should be converting a SINE
wave at 48KHz. Connect the output of the HI20201/03 module to an oscilloscope. Adjust the potentiometer until the output waveform has an amplitude of 1VP-P. Adjusting the
potentiometer Clockwise (CW) will reduce the amplitude and
Counter-Clockwise (CCW) will increase the amplitude.
FUNDAMENTAL
0
SAMPLING FUNCTION
(SINE X/X)
AMPLITUDE
(dB) -50
The HI20201/03 module has Jumper plug for selecting the
complement feature of the HI20201. When J2 is installed,
the DAC will invert the incoming data. When J3 is installed,
the DAC will not invert the data.
ALIAS
(fS - 1MHz)
-85
The HI20201/03 is very sensitive to clock noise. Some TTL/
CMOS oscillators have tremendous amounts of ringing and
overshoot. To reduce this, R7 can be installed. A 50Ω resistor is recommended.
1MHz
fN
4MHz
FS
f
FIGURE 10. SAMPLING ALIAS PRODUCTS
DDS Interface
So for a 1MHz fundamental and a 5MHz sampling rate an
alias term is created at 4MHz. A SYNC2 function shaping is
also induced by sampling a signal. Aliases continue up
through the frequency spectrum repeating around the sampling frequency and its harmonics ( i.e. 2fS, 3fS, 4fS...).
The HSP45116 board is a TTL/CMOS compatible logic
board. The HI20201/03 D/A is an ECL compatible logic converter. MC10H124’s are use to convert the TTL/CMOS output of the Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO) to ECL
logic inputs. The HI20201/03 also requires a complementary
clock input which is also done in the MC10H124s. The
design of the DAC module is to interface to the 10 Most Significant Bits (MSB’s) of the NCO.
A reconstructed Sine wave out of the HI20201/03 is not ideal
and as such, has harmonics of the fundamental. The difference between the magnitude of the fundamental and the
highest noise spur, whether it is harmonically related to the
fundamental or not, is the definition of Spurious Free
Dynamic Range. Figure 11, Figure 12, Figure 13, and
Figure 14 are sample plots taken from the HI20201 at various frequencies. Included are the oscilloscope plots.
Spurious Free Dynamic Range
The Spurious Free Dynamic Range of the HI20201/03 DACs
is the most important specification for communication applications. This specification shows how Integral Linearity,
Glitch, and Switching noise affect the spectral purity of the
output signal. Several important items must be noted first.
When a quantized signal is reconstructed, certain artifacts
are created. Let’s take the example of trying to recreate a
1MHz Sine wave with a 1VP-P output. In the frequency
domain, the fundamental should appear at 1MHz as shown
in Figure 9.
6
Application Note 9406
UNFILTERED
FS = 25MHz
ATTEN 10dB
RL 0dB
10dB/
1MHz FUNDAMENTAL
CODE WORD = OA3D70A3HEX
∆MKR -52.83dB
1.000MHz
∆MKR
1.000MHz
-52.83db
START 0Hz
RBW 3.0kHz
STOP 3.000MHz
SWP 840ms
VBW 3.0kHz
FIGURE 11A. SAMPLE PLOT
FIGURE 11B. OSCILLOSCOPE PLOT
FIGURE 11.
FILTERED WITH 1MHz BANDPASS
FS = 25MHz
ATTEN 10dB
RL 0dB
10dB/
1MHz FUNDAMENTAL
CODE WORD = OA3D70A3HEX
∆MKR -54.50dB
1.000MHz
∆MKR
1.000MHz
-54.50db
START 0Hz
RBW 3.0kHz
STOP 3.000MHz
SWP 840ms
VBW 3.0kHz
FIGURE 12A. SAMPLE PLOT
FIGURE 12B. OSCILLOSCOPE PLOT
FIGURE 12.
UNFILTERED
FS = 25MHz
ATTEN 10dB
RL 0dB
10dB/
5MHz FUNDAMENTAL
CODE WORD = 3333 3333HEX
∆MKR -55.83dB
5.00MHz
∆MKR
5.00MHz
-55.83db
START 0Hz
RBW 3.0kHz
VBW 3.0kHz
STOP 12.50MHz
SWP 3.50s
FIGURE 13A. SAMPLE PLOT
FIGURE 13B. OSCILLOSCOPE PLOT
FIGURE 13.
7
Application Note 9406
FILTERED
FS = 25MHz
ATTEN 100dB
RL 0dB
10dB/
5MHz FUNDAMENTAL
CODE WORD = OA3D70A3HEX
∆MKR -59.17dB
5.00MHz
∆MKR
5.00MHz
-59.17db
START 0Hz
RBW 3.0kHz
STOP 12.50MHz
SWP 3.50s
VBW 3.0kHz
FIGURE 14A. SAMPLE PLOT
FIGURE 14B. OSCILLOSCOPE PLOT
FIGURE 14.
Schematic Materials List
NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
PART NUMBER
VENDOR
QUANITY
REFERENCE (DES)
1
96 Pin Female DIN
A1262-ND
Digi-Key
1
J1
2
3 Post Jumper Thru-Hole
518-1072
Allied
1
J2, 3
3
Banana Jacks
J147-ND
Digi-Key
4
BJ1, 2, 3, 4
4
Pin Sockets
2-220808-7
Amp
28
U1
5
Female SMA Connector
PE4117
Pasternack
1
J4
6
1KΩ Res. Thru-Hole
297-4356
Allied
4
R1, 3, 10, 11
7
1.5KΩ Res. Thru-Hole
297-4380
Allied
1
R6
8
39Ω Res. Thru-Hole
297-5140
Allied
1
R4
9
100Ω Res. Thru-Hole
297-4202
Allied
1
R5
10
2KΩ Pot Thru-Hole
754-3122
Allied
1
R2
11
8 Pin Resistor SIP 50Ω
4600X-101-510
Bourns
2
RN1, 2
11
10µH Ind. Thru-Hole
274300111
Dexter
4
L1, 2, 3, 4
10
0.1µF Cap CER Thru-Hole
CK05BX104K
Allied
11
11
0.01µF Cap CER Thru-Hole
CK05BX103K
Allied
7
C1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
12
10µF TANT Cap Thru-Hole
10µF TANT
Allied
5
C2, 11, 14, 19, 23
13
Shottky Diode
IN914
HP
1
D1
14
HI20201 D/A DIP Package
HI20201HIP
Intersil
1
U1
15
Quad TTL to ECL Drivers Dip
MC10H124P
Motorola
3
U3, 4, 5
16
+2.5V Reference TO-92
TL431CP
TI
1
U2
17
HI20201 Evaluation Board
HI20201.EVAL
Intersil
1
8
C3, 5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22
Schematic Diagram (Part 1 of 2)
U3, U4, U5 PIN 8 IS -5.2V
AND PIN 9 IS +5.0V
VCC
P1B
P1C
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
CON32
DB3
DB5
DB7
DB9
CON32
VCC
DB1
DB2
DB4
DB6
DB8
U3
MC10H124P
1K
DB7
5
DB8
7
DB9
0
(SEE
NOTE 1)
11
6
R7
50
4
2
3
1
12
15
13
14
I0
N0
O0
I1
N1
O1
I2
N2
O2
I3
N3
O3
IC
GND
D7
D8
D9
16
U4
MC10H124P
DB4
5
DB3
7
CLK
DB6
DB5
R10
VCC
10
11
6
1K
I0
I1
I2
I3
C1
0.01µF
U1
N0
O0
N1
O1
N2
O2
N3
O3
4
2
3
1
12
15
13
14
D4
D3
D6
D5
IC
GND
D9
D8
D7
D6
D5
D4
D3
D2
D1
D0
DACLK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
14
DACLK\
13
D9 (MSB)
D8
AGND1
D7
AGND2
D6
D5
D4
D3
VREF
D2
D1
D0 (LSB)
CLK
CLK/
IOUT
R3
1K
18
28
R11
CON32
1K
5
DB0
7
DB2
10
DB1
16
U5
MC10H124P
11
6
I0
I1
I2
I3
N0
O0
N1
O1
N2
O2
N3
O3
4
2
3
1
12
15
13
14
VEE
DACLK\
D2
VEE
VIT
VTT
D1
VTT
1N914
-AVEE
VEE
DACLK
D1
IC
GND
321
JMP1
J2 J3
(SEE NOTE 3)
NOTES:
1. User installs 50Ω resistor for TTL clock termination if needed.
2. Connect pins 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 to analog ground.
3. Insert J2 to enable data complement, insert J3 to enable normal data.
FIGURE 15.
COMPL
DGND
DVEE
AVEE
HI20201JCB
D0
16
-AVEE
17
15
U2
R2
2K
TL431CLP
27
-AVEE
20
R4
39
16
VCC
R6
1.5K
(SEE
NOTE 2)
26
-AVEE
J1
SMA
Application Note 9406
9
P1A
DB0
D7: 0
R1
Schematic Diagram (Part 2 of 2)
PLACE AS CLOSE TO MC10H124’s
AS POSSIBLE
VCC
PLACE AS CLOSE TO PINS 26 AND 28
AS POSSIBLE
C17
0.01µF
C18
0.01µF
C20
0.01µF
C21
0.01µF
C22
0.01µF
PLACE AS CLOSE TO PINS 15 AND 17
AS POSSIBLE
-AVEE
VEE
C3
0.1µF
C16
0.01µF
C4
0.01µF
VEE
VEE
C5
0.01µF
C6
0.01µF
C23
10µF
+
VTT
C8
0.01µF
C9
0.01µF
C10
0.01µF
10
RN1
D7:0
BJ4
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
D8
D9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
VCC
BJACK
BJ2
BJACK
4600X-101-510
DACLK
VTT
+
C19
10µF
C11
10µF
C12
0.1µF
L2 10µH
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
+
C2
10µF
C13
0.1µF
L3 10µH
-AVEE
-5.2V POWER
BJACK
RN2
D2
D1
D0
+
GROUND
BJ1
DACLK\
L1 10µH
+5V POWER
BJ3
VEE
L4 10µH
VTT
V TERMINATION
BJACK
+
4600X-101-510
FIGURE 15. (Continued)
C14
10µF
C15
0.1µF
Application Note 9406
C7
0.01µF
Application Note 9406
Evaluation Board Layers
FIGURE 16A. HI20201 SILKSCREEN
FIGURE 16B. HI20201 LAYER 1
11
Application Note 9406
Evaluation Board Layers
(Continued)
FIGURE 16C. HI20201 LAYER 2
FIGURE 16D. HI20201 LAYER 3
12
Application Note 9406
Evaluation Board Layers
(Continued)
FIGURE 16E. HI20201 LAYER 4
All Intersil semiconductor products are manufactured, assembled and tested under ISO9000 quality systems certification.
Intersil products are sold by description only. Intersil Corporation reserves the right to make changes in circuit design and/or specifications at any time without
notice. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned to verify that data sheets are current before placing orders. Information furnished by Intersil is believed to be accurate
and reliable. However, no responsibility is assumed by Intersil or its subsidiaries for its use; nor for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties which
may result from its use. No license is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent or patent rights of Intersil or its subsidiaries.
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