Signatec PDA14 Dual-Channel Waveform Capture Board

The Signatec PDA14 is a dual-channel, high-resolution waveform digitizer that is designed for high-speed data capture with deep 512 MB onboard memory, making it ideal for high-throughput applications. The PDA14 is based on a 64-bit PCI-compatible board supporting plug-and-play with the ability to support peak data transfers up to 266 MB/s using PCI and up to 500 MB/s using the Signatec Auxiliary Bus (SAB). This allows for very high speed transfers from the PDA14 to external processing units. The PDA14 captures data from up to 100 MHz per channel with 14-bit resolution, ensuring accuracy and dependability for a wide range of frequencies, from DC to 50 MHz.

The PDA14 is designed for high-performance applications such as radar, ultrasound, communications, and mass spectrometry. The PDA14 supports a variety of external trigger and clock options, including single-shot, segmented, and pre-trigger modes that allow the correlator to synchronize with external events in virtually any data capture scenario. This makes the PDA14 ideal for systems requiring pre-trigger data or segmented acquisitions due to recurring triggers-adding flexibility to data acquisition approaches.

Utilizing the SAB interface of the Signatec PDA14 allows the achievement of data transfer rates as high as 500 MB/s in 64-bit mode, with support for complex, multi-board modular systems. The SAB capability of the PDA14 enables it to cooperate with other high-performance processing boards, such as Signatec's PMP8A, and to be highly adaptable for larger, integrated setups. Besides, the PDA14 is configured as a master-slave system that allows running up to three slave boards under one single-master operation for synchronized multi-channel applications. This feature makes the PDA14 more suitable for systems requiring multiple-channel simultaneous sampling.

The PDA14 is furnished with SMA connectors for external clock, trigger, and signal inputs, further making it compatible with a wide range of systems. The input ranges for the PDA14 range from 200 mV to 3 V, providing flexible signal conditioning. Moreover, the PDA14's ADCs support internal or external clocking, further extending flexibility in data capture settings. Data may be stored directly in the PDA14's onboard SDRAM with options for real-time access or post-acquisition transfer to either the PCI or SAB, depending on the specific application.