July 8, 2020

Editor’s Note: This content is contributed by Josh Sullivan, Product Line Manager for Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC, Virtex, and Kintex Boards & Kits

New 8T8R Sub-6GHz ZCU208 Evaluation Kit

<Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZCU208 Evaluation Kit>

Introducing the ground-breaking Zynq® UltraScale+™ RFSoC ZCU208 Evaluation kit, specially built for system architects and RF designers. This revolutionary platform delivers the power of an adaptable radio platform in a power-efficient, high-performance development system with full software programmability. Eight integrated SD-FEC cores provide forward error correction at 80% lower power consumption than soft implementations, making the ZCU208 ideal for DOCSIS, Microwave Backhaul, and Small Cell applications.

The ZU48DR silicon featured on the ZCU208 board offers the highest Xilinx direct RF sampling rates – eight 14-bit RF-ADCs operating at 5GSPS and eight 14-bit RF-DACs operating at 10GSPS. The ZU48DR device is part of the newest Gen 3 RFSoC portfolio and offers a bandwidth range all the way up to 6GHz. The ZU48DR has a lidless package, showcasing excellent thermal dissipation when running at higher performance rates. The ZCU208 evaluation board features various interfaces and connectors to enable a broad range of RF designs with I/O expandability through RFMC 2.0 RF connectors, standard FMC+ interface, SFP28 interfaces, SATA M.2 connector, USB 3.0 connector, and much more.

The ZCU208 evaluation kit is the ideal platform for rapid prototyping and cutting-edge RF application development in the sub-6GHz range.

Included Add-On Cards for Fast Evaluation and Prototyping

<Add-on Cards in the ZCU208 Evaluation Kit>

The ZCU208 leverages three newly developed add-on cards to provide a complete RF development environment. The XM650, XM655, and CLK104 are included in each ZCU208 kit and allow users to get up and running straight out of the box as well as perform in-depth measurements and characterization of the excellent RF performance.

The XM650 N79 band loopback add-on card is perfect for those designers who wish to quickly and easily setup a simple 8T8R loopback without needing any external cables or connections. The designer can digitally adapt the XM650 to any loopback combination of 1-8 channels from 4.5GHz–5GHz (N79 Band), which is critical for 5G deployments.

The XM655 breakout add-on card is ideal for in-depth performance measurements with multi-tile synchronization (MTS) capability. This allows the designer to drive pairs of ADCs and DACs (tiles) from a clock to exhibit the same performance. With built-in baluns and filters, it is a robust reference design for system architects and RF designers.

The CLK104 RF add-on card allows users to configure an internal (up to 1.2GHz) reference clock and external RF PLL (up to 10GHz) sampling clock.

Comprehensive Development Tools

<RF Data Converter Evaluation Tool>

A critical component to designing any complex system is offering a comprehensive suite of software tools. Xilinx offers a rich ecosystem of design resources such as the Vivado® Design Suite, the RF data converter evaluation tool, RF analyzer debug tool, and the power advantage tool to facilitate high-application development for any RF project.

The new ZCU208 kit is an excellent evaluation and SW development platform that provides all the tools and resources needed to get started and jump-start comprehensive RF-class analog designs and prototyping. Reduce your time to market, prototyping costs, and realize revenue faster on your RF designs with the ZCU208 kit today!

To find out more on the ZCU208 kit and to order now, visit  www.xilinx.com/zcu208.

For more information on Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC, visit www.xilinx.com/rfsoc.