Flexible laboratory setup for DAC experimentation

TL;DR

This paper reviews and demonstrates a flexible, low-cost laboratory setup for testing various digital-to-analog conversion techniques, including multiplexing, high-speed DACs, and sigma-delta modulation, using FPGA technology.

Contribution

It introduces a prototype DAC system based on time interleaved sigma-delta modulation implemented on an FPGA, facilitating experimentation with different DAC schemes.

Findings

Analog multiplexing enhances DAC testing flexibility

The FPGA-based prototype successfully implements sigma-delta modulation

The setup enables comparison of various DAC techniques efficiently

Abstract

Analog multiplexing appears to be a promising solution for modern transmitters, where speed is the primary limitation. The objective is the development of a low-cost solution to compare different digital to analog (DAC) schemes. In particular, analog multiplexing techniques, high-speed single-DAC, Sigma-delta modulation, Dynamic element matching are considered. The work presents a review of these techniques and shows a prototype of a time interleaved sigma delta modulation based DAC based on a commercially available Field Programmable Gate Array system.