Key Takeaways

• Mercury Systems launched the DRF2270 SoM and DRF5270 3U board, enhancing Direct RF digital signal processing using Altera’s Agilex 9 FPGAs.
• The new systems offer significant reductions in size, weight, power, cost, and latency for various military and industrial applications.
• Both products support rapid customization and deployment, providing advanced capabilities for signal digitization at the antenna stage.

Innovative Signal Processing Solutions

Mercury Systems, Inc. has unveiled its latest additions to the Direct RF digital signal processing lineup: the DRF2270 system on module (SoM) and the DRF5270 3U SOSA-aligned OpenVPX board. Powered by Altera’s Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGA chips, these products aim to redefine RF signal processing capabilities. The new modules allow for the direct digitization of RF signals at the antenna, eliminating the need for traditional analog signal down conversion, which is common in legacy systems.

This direct approach leverages very fast converters, high-bandwidth digital data links, and advanced real-time digital signal processing techniques, leading to substantial benefits in various metrics such as size, weight, power consumption, costs, and latency. These improvements are particularly advantageous for applications in radar, communications, electronic warfare, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), and industrial settings.

The DRF2270 is an 8-channel SoM capable of converting analog to digital signals at 64 gigasamples per second. Featuring the new Agilex 9 AGRW027 FPGA, it boasts double the channel converters compared to its predecessor, along with a 47% increase in logic elements and a 34% gain in memory capacity. The DRF5270 board integrates the DRF2270 into a compact, defense-ready 3U form factor with options for 10, 40, and 100 GigE optical interfaces, allowing for easy customization of the SoM for specific applications without the need for complete board redesigns.

Mercury continues to support its earlier offerings, including the DRF2580 SoM, which is based on the Agilex 9 AGRW014 FPGA, and the ruggedized DRF4580L module, both of which remain viable for a range of defense applications. Each of Mercury’s Direct RF products comes with the Navigator® Board Support Package and FPGA Design Kit, designed to facilitate the development of custom intellectual property (IP) for the modules, with installation processes streamlined to a few hours.

Ken Hermanny, Mercury’s vice president of signal technologies, emphasized the importance of the Mercury Processing Platform: “This platform brings advanced commercial technologies to defense missions, allowing customers to save time and cost by deploying easily customized hardware.” Hermanny also noted that the expanding range of Direct RF products empowers customers with more options to capture and exploit signals efficiently at the edge.

The collaborative efforts with Altera showcase a significant stride in the integration of RF technologies, as articulated by Ben Esposito, senior principal engineer at Altera. He explained that the new Agilex 9 Wideband Direct RF FPGAs can integrate multiple data converter pairs, capable of processing vast bandwidths while addressing the challenges of size, weight, and power optimization crucial for next-generation defense and aerospace missions.

Key features of the DRF2270 and DRF5270 include a compact 2.6 x 4.75 in. SOM architecture, the Agilex 9 SoC FPGA AGRW027, eight 64 GSPS A/D and D/A converters, 16 GB of DDR4 SDRAM, and built-in multichip synchronization for enhanced phased array operations. Both products are designed for rugged environments and support extensive customization options through FPGA design kits and software development packages.

These innovations will be showcased at the AOC International Symposium and Convention in National Harbor, MD, from December 11-13, 2024, providing attendees an opportunity to explore the future of RF signal processing technology.

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