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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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15 years ago

Interfacing Terasic THDB_ADA Daughter Card with Cyclone III Starter Kit

I have a terasic thdb_ada Daughter Card alongwith my cyclone iii fpga starter kit. But due to the very poorly made User manual for the THDB_ADA Board, I need to know the answers to the following questions, before I can start interfacing Analog signals.

Q1) What is the analog input voltage range that we can supply to this board as input ? (I don't wish to directly supply my 10V analog signal & burn the board)

Q2) Since we have 2 separate AD channels, can we supply 2 independent differential signals at these, or do they need to have a common ground (single-ended) ?

2 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    15 years ago

    Hello

    Q1)User manual is not so bed in my opinion. In CD you will have datasheets of AD converters with maximum allowable input voltages. But as I remember maximum input voltage for AD is plus and minus 1 V refered to ground.

    Q2)You should have a schematic on mentioned CD. AD converters have differential inputs but special transformer is used to convert single-ended signal to differential input of AD. Inputs have common ground plane - I mean SMA connectors.

    Best regards
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    15 years ago

    Thanks for responding komi ...

    I asked the same questions to Terasic-support, and even they replied that the "analog-input voltage range is 2vp-p".

    But what exactly does a 2Vp-p translate to: (-1V to +1V) or (0V to 2V) or anything else?

    You have quoted it as (-1V to +1V), but my observations into the AD datasheet (AD9248) that came along with the CD suggest something different.

    There, in the Absolute Maximum Voltage Rating section, VinA & VinB have absolute minimum voltage of -0.3v. Also ... the datasheet mentions an example where they mean (0V to 2V) by 2Vp-p. (pics attached).

    Of course, one can argue that these ratings refer to the actual A/D IC, and not our THDB_ADA inputs directly. There's a lot of interfacing circuitry in between.

    This makes us closely scrutinize the board-schematic on the mentioned CD. There, the circuit between the SMA connector & An-Inputs to A/D IC, just resembles some filter. (no voltage scaling seen)

    So I guess, finally - the analog inputs that we can give to the SMA connectors must be between (0v to +2v). What say ?