New Direct RF Technologies Boost Defense Systems

Rodger Hosking
Mercury Systems, Inc.

The numerous game-changing benefits of directly digitizing wideband RF analog signals have altered the trajectory of future software radio architectures. By eliminating complex and costly analog RF tuners and upconverters, Direct RF ADCs and DACs can digitize K band RF signals at 64 GS/sec, and capture signal bandwidths up to 30 GHz. By boosting performance while reducing latency, cost, size, weight and power, Direct RF specifically addresses the most critical needs of advanced radar and EW systems.  However, these many benefits can only be realized with judicious allocation of specialized digital processing resources to support the wealth of critical information in the fire hose of data to and from these data converters. Widespread interest and rapid adoption of Direct RF technology is inspiring new silicon device solutions with higher levels of integration to meet this objective. This presentation offers the latest strategies and technologies to take advantage of Direct RF in critical defense applications.

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