Synopsys releases data converter IP solutions

The IP is targeted at broadband wireless communications, wired communications and video designs requiring high-performance, ultra-low power consumption and a very compact area.

With this latest addition, Synopsys's Designware data converter IP portfolio now offers more than 100 data converter IP products including analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) supporting oversampling, pipeline, sigma-delta, SAR and current-steering architectures.

By providing a portfolio of silicon-proven, high-quality data converter IP solutions, the company is helping designers lower integration risk, speed time to market and achieve first-pass silicon success for their system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

The Designware data converter IP solutions meet the needs of a range of applications.

For instance, for broadband wireless communications, wired communications and video applications requiring high dynamic range and low power, the Designware dual-pipeline ADCs and DACs support 12-bit resolution and offer up to a 200 MSPS sampling rate.

For cellular communication applications requiring support for multiple generation protocols from 2G up to LTE, the Designware dual-sigma-delta ADCs support 12-bit resolution with the ability to process narrow and broadband channels in a power-efficient method.

For video applications processing common high-definition TV, standard-definition TV or graphics video formats, the Designware video DACs support up to 12-bit resolution and offer up to a 300 MSPS sampling rate.

For general-purpose measurement applications requiring low sampling rates, the Designware SAR ADCs and DACs support up to 12-bit resolution and sigma-delta ADCs support up to 14-bit high resolution.

These full-featured data converters internally generate the required references and include additional features such as a flexible analogue interface that simplifies the connection with radio-frequency and other transceivers, eliminating the need for external components.

These elements help designers reduce silicon costs and simplify the integration of the IP into an SoC.

The Designware sigma-delta ADCs, current-steering DACs, video DACs and general-purpose ADCs and DACs in the 40nm process are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2010.

The Designware data converter IP solutions are currently available in foundries and advanced technology processes from 180nm to 65nm.