Introduction

Enclustra developed a Hand-held spectrum analyzer with real-time signal processing path. It includes elaborate filtering, down-conversion, Fourier-transform and analysis of important properties of the resulting signal. As an additional feature, signals can be demodulated in real-time.

Customer Challenge

Because the device runs from battery, it requires low power consumption while keeping the high performance and being compact at the same time.

The Solution

To meet the requirements, the complete signal processing path is realized in a low-cost, low-power Xilinx Artix-7 device. Thanks to Enclustra’s approach of providing bit-true models first, the customer was able to evaluate the signal performance of the system even before HDL FPGA implementation was started.

Thanks to the modular VHDL code and the already existing unit and top-level regression tests, it was fairly simple to integrate the additional functionality and deliver a reliable system with stunning new features.

The Result

«One of the main parts in the digital signal processing path of Narda’s Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer SignalShark has been developed and implemented by Enclustra. We appreciated Enclustra's professional approach, thorough documentation and deep understanding of signal processing algorithms as well as FPGA technology.» Eduard Staller, Director R&D, Narda Safety Test Solutions GmbH.

Keywords

Xilinx® Artix-7 | DDR SDRAM | VHDL | MATLAB | Xilinx MicroBlaze | FPGA System Design | FPGA HDL | Embedded Software