Spectrum Instrumentation Unveils New Digitizer Cards
The new products include the model M5i.3330-x16, a single channel card that can sample at rates up to 6.4 GS/s
Spectrum Instrumentation has introduced two new PCIe Digitizer cards, bringing next-generation performance to PC-based instrumentation.
Using 16-lane, Gen 3, PCIe technology, the cards are capable of streaming acquired data over the bus at a staggering 12.8 GB/s.
Oliver Rovini, Chief Technical Officer at Spectrum, said “We’re excited by the release of these first products in our new M5i high-performance digitizer family. They bring to market a unique feature set that makes them ideal for situations that require high-frequency signal acquisition and analysis. For example, they’re perfect for capturing the signals found in fibre optics, mass spectrometry, semiconductor testing, RF recording and quantum technology, just to name a few applications. We’re also delighted by the data transfer speed these cards achieve. Shifting data at rates up to 12.8 GB/s to the latest processor (CPU and GPU) technologies opens up new applications where intensive signal processing is required. For instance, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are now using radio and microwave sensor technology for object detection and identification. This involves the capture and analysis of signals in the MHz and GHz ranges, and it results in the processing of vast amounts of information. Similarly, astronomers scan the skies to collect light or radio waves from distant celestial objects. The data volumes they collect are enormous and analyzing it, to reveal the secrets of the universe, requires a huge amount of processing power. That’s where the faster bus on the M5i products is a game-changer. It allows continuous streaming of all the data directly to very advanced processing systems. No data is missed, and it can be processed as fast as it arrives. Faster data transfer also provides users with improved measurement speeds and that leads to better productivity, particularly for those running automated testing processes. And finally, there’s the enhanced resolution. This increases measurement precision and allows test engineers to run trials with tighter tolerances. In turn that enables better quality control!”
That is nearly twice as fast as any other PCIe Digitizer currently on the market.
Furthermore, it allows the cards to continuously run at their maximum sampling rate of 6.4 GS/s, with 12-bit resolution, and transfer the acquired data directly to PC memory for storage, or even to CPUs and CUDA-based GPUs for processing and analysis.
The new products include the model M5i.3330-x16, a single channel card that can sample at rates up to 6.4 GS/s, and the M5i.3337-x16 (pictured), a dual-channel card that offers synchronous 3.2 GS/s sampling on both channels, or the full 6.4 GS/s on a single channel.
With 12-bit resolution, these fast digitizers offer exceptional dynamic range. It is up to sixteen times better than most digital oscilloscopes or comparable 8-bit digitizers.
Designed to handle a wide variety of signals, the cards feature fully functional front-end electronics with over 2 GHz bandwidth, programmable full-scale ranges from ±200 mV to ±2.5 V and variable offset.
