MOD 301 WaveRunner PMC Module

The MOD / Red River 301 WaveRunner PMC Module transforms any baseboard with a PMC site into a high performance software defined radio. The unique polychannel architecture combines the flexibility, performance, and precision of advanced digital transceiver chips with a modern analog IF front-end to address a broad range of both narrowband and wideband applications. The industry standard PCI interface simplifies programming and eases the transition from a desktop development environment to an embedded target platform. A single module contains independent receive and transmit threads that share a common command and data interface to the host processor.

The receiver accepts an analog IF input through an SMB connector located on the front panel. The signal is routed through a digitally controlled attenuator and buffer amplifier immediately preceding the analog anti-alias filter. A second amplifier stage boosts the signal to match the input range of the A/D converter. The second IF produced by the A/D converter is passed to a digital downconverter that can be configured for one to eight independent output channels. Each channel tunes to a signal of interest and performs amplitude adjustment based on gain control settings. The complex data samples produced by the downconverter are stored in a FIFO that is accessed through DMA transfers initiated by the host or transceiver.