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AD936x Transmitter

Send data to AD936x-based Zynq radio hardware

Since R2024b

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  • AD936x Transmitter icon

Libraries:
SoC Blockset Support Package for AMD FPGA and SoC Devices / MPSoC / ZCU102
SoC Blockset Support Package for AMD FPGA and SoC Devices / Zynq-7000 / ADI RF SOM
SoC Blockset Support Package for AMD FPGA and SoC Devices / Zynq-7000 / ZC706
SoC Blockset Support Package for AMD FPGA and SoC Devices / Zynq-7000 / ZedBoard

Description

The AD936x Transmitter block sends data to an AD936x-based Zynq® radio hardware.

You can use the AD936x Transmitter block to simulate and develop various software-defined radio (SDR) applications. This diagram shows the conceptual overview of transmitting and receiving radio signals in Simulink® using the SoC Blockset™ Support Package for AMD FPGA and SoC Devices. Simulink interacts with the AD936x Transmitter block to send data to the radio hardware.

Block diagram showing the flow from an FPGA design, to an AD936c Transmitter block, to a Zynq board, and then to an antenna

Examples

Transmit Data on Multiple Channels Using Simulink Block

Transmit Data on Multiple Channels Using Simulink Block

This model is set up to transmit data on two channels. The Channel mapping parameter of the E3xx Transmitter block is set to [1 2]. The underflow port is disabled by clearing the Enable output port for underflow indicator parameter. The Sine Wave Channel 1 block is configured to generate an 8 kHz sine wave. The Sine Wave Channel 2 block is configured to generate a 1 kHz sine wave. Both sine waves are sampled at 1 MHz. When you run this model, the E3xx Transmitter block sends the generated and combined sine waves through the air. You can inspect the generated data in the Spectrum Analyzer blocks.

Limitations

  • To use this block, in the hardware setup, select one of these boards and add-on cards.

    • Analog Devices® RF SOM

    • Xilinx® Zynq ZC706 Evaluation Kit with Analog Devices FMCOMMS2/3/4 RF card

    • ZedBoard™ with Analog Devices FMCOMMS2/3/4 RF card

    • Zynq UltraScale+™ MPSoC ZCU102 Evaluation Kit with Analog Devices FMCOMMS2/3/4 RF card

Ports

Input

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Input signal sent to the radio hardware, specified as a complex matrix. The number of columns in the matrix depends on the number of channels in use, as specified by the radio channel properties. Each column corresponds to a channel of complex data sent via one channel. In single-channel mode, the number of elements in a column must be even.

This port supports complex values with these data types:

  • 16-bit signed integers — Since the AD9361/AD9364 RF chip has a 12-bit DAC, only the 12 most significant bits of the I and Q samples are used.

  • Single-precision floating point — Complex values in the range of [–1, 1]. Since the AD9361/AD9364 RF chip has a 12-bit DAC, numbers of magnitude less than 0.0625 are lost.

  • Double-precision floating point — Complex values in the range of [–1, 1]. since the AD9361/AD9364 RF chip has a 12-bit DAC, numbers of magnitude less than 0.0625 are lost.

When you select the Concatenated complex signal parameter, the data type is represented as uint32, rather than int16 complex.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set the Data source select parameter to Input port.

Data Types: int16 | single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Valid data indicator, returned as one of these values:

  • 1 — Indicates that the input data is valid for transmission to the radio hardware.

  • 0 — Indicates that the input data is not valid.

Data Types: Boolean

External RF center frequency, specified as a nonnegative finite scalar. The valid center frequency range is from 70 MHz to 6 GHz.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO, and set the Source of center frequency parameter to Input port.

Data Types: double

External gain source, specified as a numeric scalar or a 1-by-2 numeric vector. The valid gain range is –89.75 dB to 0 dB. The resolution is 0.25 dB.

Set the gain based on the radio channel configuration.

  • For a single channel, specify the gain as a scalar.

  • For two channels that use the same gain value, specify the gain as a scalar. The block applies the gain by scalar expansion.

  • For two channels that use different gain values, specify the gain as a 1-by-2 vector. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO, and set the Source of gain parameter to Input port.

Data Types: double

Output

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Output signal simulating the radio hardware, specified as a complex matrix. The number of columns in the matrix depends on the number of channels in use, as specified by the by radio channel properties. Each column corresponds to a channel of complex data received on one channel.

When you select the Concatenated complex signal parameter, the datatype is represented as uint32, rather than int16 complex.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set the Simulation output parameter to To output port.

Data Types: int16 | single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Data discontinuity flag, returned as one of these values:

  • 1 indicates the presence of underflow resulting in noncontiguous data.

  • 0 indicates no underflow.

You can use this port as a diagnostic tool to determine real-time operation of the AD936x Transmitter block. If your model is not running in real time, increase the frame size to approach or achieve real-time performance. Alternatively, you can decrease the baseband sampling rate.

Note

Running the block for the first time initializes the radio. Because this initialization can result in an underflow, ignore the underflow output port value of the first run.

Dependencies

To enable this port, on the Main tab, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO, and select the Enable output port for underflow indicator parameter.

Data Types: Boolean

Parameters

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The AD936x Transmitter block supports up to two channels to send data to the AD936x-based Zynq radio hardware. Use the radio channel properties to indicate whether to use a single channel or two channels. For each channel in the input signal, data, you can set the Gain (dB) parameter independently, or you can apply the same setting to all channels. If you select direct digital synthesis (DDS) transmission for the Data source select parameter, you can also set all DDS-based parameters independently (in connected IO mode only). All other parameter values are applied to each channel in use.

To check connectivity between the block and the radio hardware, and to synchronize radio settings between them, on the Main tab, click Info.

When you set block parameter values, the AD936x Transmitter block first checks that the values have the correct data types. If the values pass those checks, the values can still be out of range for the radio hardware. In that case, the radio hardware sets the actual value as close to the specified value as possible. When you next synchronize the block with the radio hardware by clicking Info, a dialog box displays the actual values.

Select source for simulation input:

  • Terminator — the output data produced by this block is terminated. Use this option when building the system, and simulating data is not required.

  • To output port — this option adds an output port data to the block. — Since the AD9361/AD9364 RF chip has a 12-bit DAC, only the 12 most significant bits of the I and Q samples are used.

  • To connected IO — Use this option to send live output data to the board.

To check connectivity between the block and the radio hardware, and to synchronize radio settings between them, on the Main tab, click Info.

When you set block parameter values, the AD936x Transmitter block first checks that the values have the correct data types. If the values pass those checks, the values can still be out of range for the radio hardware. In that case, the radio hardware sets the actual value as close to the specified value as possible. When you next synchronize the block with the radio hardware by clicking Info, a dialog box displays the actual values.

If a parameter is listed as tunable, then you can change its value during simulation.

Main

Select this option to enable data transmission on channel 1.

Select this option to enable data transmission on channel 2.

The RF chip of the radio hardware determines the number of channels you can use for receiving data.

Supported Radio HardwareRF ChipNumber of ChannelsSupported RF Ports

ADI RF SOM

ZC706 and FMCOMMS2 or FMCOMMS3

ZedBoard and FMCOMMS2 or FMCOMMS3

ZCU102 and FMCOMMS2 or FMCOMMS3

AD93612

TX1A, RX1A, TX2A, RX2A

ZC706 and FMCOMMS4

ZedBoard and FMCOMMS4

ZCU102 and FMCOMMS4

AD93641

TXA, RXA

Select this option when the input and output signal are represented as unit32 instead of a complex number with int16 for real and int16 for imaginary.

IP address of the radio hardware, specified as a dotted-quad expression.

This parameter must match the physical IP address of the radio hardware assigned during hardware setup. For more information, see Set Up Xilinx Devices. If you configure the radio hardware with an IP address other than the default, update Radio IP address accordingly.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO.

Click this button to check connectivity between the block and the radio hardware, and to synchronize radio settings between them.

When you set block parameter values, the AD936x Transmitter block first checks that the values have the correct data types. If the values pass those checks, the values can still be out of range for the radio hardware. In that case, the radio hardware sets the actual value as close to the specified value as possible. When you next synchronize the block with the radio hardware by clicking Info, a dialog box displays the actual values.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation input parameter to From connected IO.

Source of center frequency, specified as one of these options:

  • Dialog — Set the center frequency by using the Center frequency (Hz) parameter.

  • Input port — Set the center frequency by using the center frequency input port.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO.

RF center frequency in Hz, specified as a nonnegative scalar. The valid range for center frequency is 70 MHz to 6 GHz.

Tunable: Yes

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO, and set the Source of center frequency parameter to Dialog.

Data Types: double

  • Dialog — Specify the gain by using the Gain (dB) parameter.

  • Input port — Specify the gain by using the gain input port.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO.

Gain in dB, specified as a numeric scalar or a 1-by-2 numeric vector. The valid gain range is –89.75 dB to 0 dB. The resolution is 0.25 dB.

Set the gain based on the radio channel configuration.

  • For a single channel, specify the gain as a scalar.

  • For two channels that use the same gain value, specify the gain as a scalar. The block applies the gain by scalar expansion.

  • For two channels that use different gain values, specify the gain as a 1-by-2 vector. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

Tunable: Yes

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO and set the Source of gain parameter to Dialog.

Data Types: double

Baseband sampling rate in Hz, specified as a positive scalar. The valid range of this parameter is 520.834 kHz to 61.44 MHz.

Note

To synchronize the block with the radio hardware, on the Menu tab, click Info. If the specified and actual rates have a small mismatch, verify that the computed rate is close to the value you actually want.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO.

Data Types: double

Select this parameter to enable the underflow output port during host-radio hardware data transfers.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Simulation output parameter to To connected IO.

Filter

The parameters in this tab are only visible when Simulation output is set to To connected IO.

When you select this parameter, the filter chain uses a custom filter design instead of the default filter design. For example, if the gain or bandwidth characteristics of the default filter does not satisfy the requirements for your application, you can design a custom filter that meets your specific requirements. If the AD936x Transmitter block does not have a custom filter design applied yet, click on Launch filter wizard to open the ADI filter wizard. The wizard enables you to design a custom filter for the Analog Devices AD9361/AD9364 RF chip based on the Baseband sample rate (Hz) parameter. You can adjust and optimize the settings for calculating the analog filters, interpolation and decimation filters, and FIR coefficients. When you finish with the wizard, to apply the custom filter design to the block, click Apply on the block mask.

Note

When applying a custom filter to the AD936x Transmitter block by using the ADI filter wizard, Use custom filter is automatically selected. To switch between the default and your custom filter design, clear or select Use custom filter, respectively. Then click Apply on the block mask.

For more information, see Baseband Sampling Rate and Filter Chains.

Advanced

The parameters in this tab are only visible when Simulation output is set to To connected IO.

Select this parameter to enable the radio hardware data path to bypass the algorithm generated and programmed during FPGA targeting or hardware-software co-design. For more information, see FPGA Targeting Workflow and Hardware-Software Co-Design Workflow.

Source of data, specified as one of these values:

  • Input Port — This selection enables the data input port.

  • DDS — This selection enables DDS transmission. The block uses two additive tones for each channel. To set the tone frequency and tone scale of these tones, use the Tone 1 Frequency (Hz), Tone 2 Frequency (Hz), Tone 1 Scale [0-1], and Tone 2 Scale [0-1] parameters. The DDS signals are generated on the FPGA.

First DDS tone frequency in Hz, specified as one of these options:

  • Numeric scalar — Use this option for a single channel or to specify the same frequency for two channels. The object applies scalar expansion for each channel specified by the radio channel properties.

  • 1-by-2 numeric vector — Use this option to specify different frequencies for two channels. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

The valid range of Tone 1 Frequency (Hz) is from 0 to BasebandSampleRate / 2.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Data source select parameter to DDS.

Data Types: double

Second DDS tone frequency in Hz, specified as one of these options:

  • Numeric scalar — Use this option for a single channel or to specify the same frequency for two channels. The object applies scalar expansion for each channel specified by the radio channel properties.

  • 1-by-2 numeric vector — Use this option to specify different frequencies for two channels. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

The valid range of Tone 2 Frequency (Hz) is from 0 to BasebandSampleRate / 2.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Data source select parameter to DDS.

Data Types: double

First DDS tone scale in millionths of full scale, specified as one of these options:

  • Numeric scalar — Use this option for a single channel or to specify the same scale for two channels. The object applies scalar expansion for each channel specified by the radio channel properties.

  • 1-by-2 numeric vector — Use this option to specify different scales for two channels. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

The valid range of Tone 1 Scale [0-1] is from 0 to 1.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Data source select parameter to DDS.

Data Types: double

Second DDS tone scale in millionths of full scale, specified as one of these options:

  • Numeric scalar — Use this option for a single channel or to specify the same scale for two channels. The object applies scalar expansion for each channel specified by the radio channel properties.

  • 1-by-2 numeric vector — Use this option to specify different scales for two channels. The ith element of the vector is applied to the ith channel specified by the radio channel properties.

The valid range of Tone 2 Scale [0-1] is from 0 to 1.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Data source select parameter to DDS.

Data Types: double

Timeout for I/O operations in seconds, specified as one of these options:

  • Inf — The block waits indefinitely to complete I/O operations.

  • Nonnegative scalar, N — The block waits N seconds to complete I/O operations. Zero seconds corresponds to a non-blocking setup.

Data Types: double

Built-in self-test loopback mode, specified as one of these options:

  • Disabled — Disable BIST loopback.

  • Digital Tx -> Digital Rx — Enable digital signals to loop back within the device. The signals bypass the RF stage.

  • RF Rx -> RF Tx — Enable incoming receiver RF signals to loop back to the RF transmitter port. The signals bypass the FPGA.

BIST signal injection mode, specified as one of these values:

  • Disabled — Disable BIST signal injection.

  • Tone Inject Tx — Enable BIST signal injection to transmit path.

  • Tone Inject Rx — Enable BIST signal injection to receive path.

When you enable BIST signal injection, you can set the source of BIST signal generation with the Signal generator mode parameter.

Source of BIST signal generation, specified as one of these options:

  • PRBS — Use the pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) generator of the board.

  • Tone — Use the tone generator of the board. To set the tone frequency and tone level, use the Tone frequency (Hz) and Tone level (dB) parameters, respectively.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Test signal injection parameter to Tone Inject Tx or Tone Inject Rx.

BIST tone frequency, specified as Fs/32, Fs/16, Fs*3/32, or Fs/8.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Signal generator mode parameter to Tone.

BIST tone level, specified as 0, -6, -12, or -18.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Signal generator mode parameter to Tone.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced in R2024b

See Also

Objects

Blocks

Topics

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