Red Rapids offers a catalogue of signal processing hardware products that target communication, telemetry, radar, electro-optic, and high-speed data acquisition systems.
These are available in multiple form factors for seamless integration into an embedded chassis or traditional server/desktop computing environment.
A focus on signal conversion hardware
Red Rapids offers both analog and digital up/down converters that cover the spectrum from DC to 6GHz. The analog converters translate radio frequency (RF) signals to an intermediate frequency (IF) that carries the information bandwidth. The digital converters translate the analog IF to digital baseband that can be manipulated by computer. In some cases, direct RF sampling can be used to eliminate the analog conversion to an IF. These products are commonly used in software-defined radios that digitally process the signal waveform.
The analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) products can be applied to virtually any type of signal. A wide selection of sample rates and support for AC or DC coupled analog connections allow the products to address a broad range of applications. They are frequently applied to high-bandwidth transducers that operate in the ultrasonic or optical bands.
The digital signal processor (DSP) products use field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology to accelerate application specific algorithms. The FPGA is directly connected to an ADC or DAC so that samples can be processed at the raw data rate and not limited by the speed of a general-purpose computer bus. These products require expertise in FPGA programming, but we can often customise our existing base of intellectual property to meet specific requirements.
Open architecture standards for desktop and server computers
Red Rapids hardware is built around widely adopted open architecture standards. We offer the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express form factor for desktop computers and servers. The embedded products are available in the XMC and VPX form factors for both air and conduction-cooled environments.
A unified code base allows application developers to transition between products and across operating systems with a common API. Windows and Linux drivers are provided at no additional cost. Demonstration software written in C (C++ compatible) provides a template for application development.
SigFront RF analog up/down converter products
The SigFront product family offers high-fidelity analog up/down converters with multiple IF bandwidth options. The up and down converter functions are supplied as individual products that cover two separate RF bands; 1MHz to 3.9GHz and 100kHz to 6GHz.
The 3.9GHz RF converter is a triple-stage superheterodyne structure with a 70MHz IF centre frequency. The up/down converter can be configured with 10MHz, 18MHz, or 40MHz IF bandwidths.
The 6GHz RF converter is a triple-stage heterodyne structure with a programmable IF centre frequency from 1MHz to 500MHz. The up/down converter can be configured with an 80MHz or 160MHz IF bandwidth.
SigStream plug-and-play ADC/DAC and digital up/down converter products
The SigStream product family digitises and reproduces analog signals under software command from a host computer. The product is similar to any plug-and-play peripheral and is easily installable. Simply load the driver and begin processing digitised signal data from your application software.
The SigStream products feature a rich set of software programmable features that include selectable operating modes (continuous, snapshot, periodic), external or timed event triggers, programmable up/down converters, timestamped data samples, data sizing, and data packing.
Data can be organised as a continuous stream of samples or in data packets defined by the VITA 49 specification.
SigStream product options include a single channel 12-bit (1.5Gsps) receiver, dual-channel 16-bit (310Msps) transceiver, quad channel 16-bit (250Msps) receiver, and eight channel 16-bit (125Msps) receiver. The analog interface can be AC coupled to support direct RF/IF sampling or DC coupled to operate at frequencies approaching zero.
SigFPGA DSP accelerator products
The SigFPGA product family provides the ideal platform to rapidly field application specific signal processing functions minus the expense of custom hardware development. The products share a common Xilinx FPGA processing architecture with multiple size and speed grade options. Two banks of QDR SRAM attached to the FPGA provide 32Mb of local storage. Each bank can sustain 1.8Gb/sec simultaneous read/write transactions.
A library of FPGA cores is included with each product to simplify communication with the ADC/DAC, static random access memory (SRAM), and host bus. A reference design written in VHDL demonstrates the complete data path between the ADC/DAC and data transfers with the host computer.
About Red Rapids
Red Rapids products are currently deployed in military ground installations, ships, submarines, and aircraft worldwide. Applications include signals intelligence (SIGINT), surveillance receivers, satellite telemetry ground terminals, signal recorders, bomb detectors, active radar, and special-purpose test equipment.
We are eager to help you match our product portfolio to your unique requirements. Please feel free to contact us by phone or send an enquiry using the form.