Epiq Solutions Sidekiq NV100 Instructions for use

Sidekiq™ NV100
RF Transceiver • Low SWaP
HARDWARE USER MANUAL
V1.4 - MAY 25, 2022

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual
CHANGELOG
Revision Date Description Author
0.1 2020-10-07 Pre-release draft, initial version Barry L
1.0 2021-10-13 First release Barry L
1.1 2021-11-11 NUC PDK and JTAG fixture updates Barry L
1.2 2022-01-11 Added power consumption numbers Barry L
1.3 2022-02-11 Updated jtag fixture, rf port mapping, MTBF, and SoV tables, and format cleanup Barry L
1.4 2022-05-25 Updated status LED table, added AppArmor note and GPSDO performance section Barry L

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual
DISCLAIMER
Epiq Solutions is disclosing this document (“Documentation”) as a general guideline for development. Epiq
Solutions expressly disclaims any liability arising out of your use of the Documentation. Epiq Solutions
reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change the Documentation without notice at any time. Epiq
Solutions assumes no obligation to correct any errors contained in the Documentation, or to advise you of any
corrections or updates. Epiq Solutions expressly disclaims any liability in connection with technical support or
assistance that may be provided to you in connection with the Information. THE DOCUMENTATION IS
DISCLOSED TO YOU “AS IS” WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. EPIQ SOLUTIONS MAKES NO
OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE
DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT WILL
EPIQ SOLUTIONS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOSS OF DATA OR LOST PROFITS, ARISING FROM YOUR
USE OF THE DOCUMENTATION.

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Legal Considerations
Proper Care and Handling
Overview
References
Terms and Definitions
System Overview
Hardware Specification
RF Receiver Specification
RF Transmitter Specification
Clock/Synchronization Specification
Hardware Specification
Hardware Interfaces
Antenna Port 1 (RXA1/RXB1/TXA1)
Antenna Port 2 (TXB1/RXB1)
GPS RX
Status LEDs
External PPS Input (FPGA PPS)
External Reference Clock Input (REF_IN)
Reference Clock Output (DEVCLK_OUT)
FPGA USER IO
Primary Thermal Relief (RF Shield)
Temperature & Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) Sensors
M.2 Edge Connector
Basic Usage in a Host System
Host System Compatibility
USB/PCIe Signal Availability in Host Platform
BIOS Compatibility
Operating System Compatibility
FPGA Reprogramming Options
RF Interfaces
System Interface
Proper Detection of Sidekiq NV100 in a Windows Host System
Proper Detection of Sidekiq NV100 in a Linux Host System
Power Consumption
GPS Power Consumption (TBD)
Thermal Dissipation

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual
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Internal/External Reference Clock Options
GPS Disciplined Oscillator (GPSDO)
GPSDO Performance
GPS / UART functionality in Linux Host System
Sidekiq NV100 GPS sysfs
Linux sysfs GPS Control Examples
Sidekiq NV100 GPS UART
GPS / UART functionality in Windows Host System
Support for Host System Sleep/Hibernation
Debugging the Sidekiq NV100
JTAG Access on Sidekiq NV100
Sidekiq NV100 JTAG Fixture Usage Notes
Sidekiq NV100 JTAG Fixture Thunderbolt3 (TB3) Setup
Sidekiq NV100 NUC Platform Development Kit (PDK)
Sidekiq NV100 NUC PDK Overview
Sidekiq NV100 NUC PDK Setup
Included Applications
Raw I/Q Capture
ERA - Epiq RF Analyzer
Sidekiq NV100 NUC RF Ports
Sidekiq NV100 NUC GPIO Connector
Sidekiq NV100 NUC JTAG Connector
Accessing Sidekiq NV100 NUC JTAG Connector
Sidekiq NV100 Flash Recovery
Sidekiq NV100 Mechanical Outline
Sidekiq NV100 RF Front End
Statement of Volatility
Predicted Failure Rate and MTBF

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Introduction
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 6
This document provides an overview of Epiq Solutions' Sidekiq NV100 SDR, an M.2 card with
integrated RF transceiver, FPGA, RF pre-selection filtering, GPSDO and PCIe interface to a host.
This card is similar to the Sidekiq Stretch card developed by Epiq Solutions, but leverages the ADI
ADRV9004 RFIC with higher performance 16-bit ADCs and DACs, improved linearity, lower RF
frequency tuning, and is capable of supporting two main modes of operation: dual-independently
tunable Rx, or Tx+Rx on the same frequency.
The following topics will be discussed:
Overview of the Sidekiq NV100 hardware interfaces
Sidekiq NV100 usage/integration options
Sidekiq NV100 JTAG fixture usage
Sidekiq NV100 NUC PDK
All documentation and support for Sidekiq NV100 is provided through Epiq Solutions' support
website which can be found at: https://support.epiqsolutions.com
Please note that it is necessary to register prior to accessing the relevant information for your
purchase.
INTRODUCTION

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Legal Considerations
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 7
The Sidekiq NV100 is distributed all over the world. Each country has its own laws governing
reception and transmission of radio frequencies. Each user of Sidekiq NV100 and associated
software is solely responsible for ensuring that it is used in a manner consistent with the
laws of the jurisdiction in which it is used. Many countries, including the United States,
prohibit the transmission and reception of certain frequency bands, or receiving certain
transmissions without proper authorization. Again, the user is solely responsible for the
user's own actions.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Proper Care and Handling
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 8
Each Sidekiq NV100 unit is fully tested by Epiq Solutions before shipment, and is guaranteed
functional at the time it is received by the customer, and ONLY AT THAT TIME. Improper use of the
Sidekiq NV100 unit can cause it to become non-functional. In particular, a list of actions that may
cause damage to the hardware include the following:
Handling the unit without proper static precautions (ESD protection) when the housing is
removed or opened up
Inserting or removing Sidekiq NV100 from a host system when power is applied to the host
system
Connecting a transmitter to the RX port without proper attenuation
Executing custom software and/or an FPGA bitstream that was not developed according to
guidelines
The above list is not comprehensive, and experience with the appropriate measures for handling
electronic devices is required.
PROPER CARE AND HANDLING

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Overview
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 9
This guide provides an overview of the Sidekiq NV100 software defined radio hardware platform,
associated capabilities, and basic usage. This includes the following:
System level block diagram of the platform
Overview of the externally accessible hardware ports
Powering the system up and down
All documentation and support for Sidekiq NV100 is provided through Epiq Solutions' support
website:
https://support.epiqsolutions.com
Please note that it is necessary to register prior to accessing the relevant information for your
purchase.
OVERVIEW

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual References
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 10
1. Sidekiq NV100 Product Page
https://epiqsolutions.com/rf-transceiver/sidekiq-nv100/
2. Epiq Solutions Support Page
https://support.epiqsolutions.com
3. ADI ADRV9004 Transceiver Product Page
http://www.analog.com/en/products/adrv9004.html
4. u-blox ZOE-M8 GNSS SiP module
https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/zoe-m8-series
5. Berquist Thermal Gap Pad Material
http://www.bergquistcompany.com/thermal_materials/gap-pad.htm
6. PCI-SIG PCIe M.2 Specifications
https://pcisig.com/specifications/pciexpress/
REFERENCES

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Terms and Definitions
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 11
Term Definition
A/D Analog to Digital converter
BIOS Basic Input/Output System
COTS Commercial Off The Shelf
D/A Digital to Analog converter
dB Decibel
dBm Decibels referenced to one milliwatt (mW)
ESD ElectroStatic Discharge
FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array
GALILEO/BEIDOU European Union's Galileo and China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite Systems
GHz gigahertz
GLONASS GLObal NAvigation Satellite System
GPIO General Purpose Input / Output (I/O)
GPS Global Positioning System
GPSDO Global Positioning System Disciplined Oscillator
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface
IF Intermediate Frequency
I/Q In-Phase / Quadrature Phase
JTAG Joint Test Action Group
kHz kilohertz
LED Light Emitting Diode
MHz megahertz
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
ms millisecond
NUC Next Unit of Computing
NVMe Non-Volatile Memory
PDK Platform Development Kit
PID Proportional–Integral–Derivative
PPS Pulse Per Second
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Terms and Definitions
Epiq Solutions Proprietary Page 12
PPM Parts Per Million
QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
RF Radio Frequency
RFFE RF Front-End
Rx Receive
SBAS Satellite-based Augmentation System
SDK Software Development Kit
SDR Software Defined Radio
SSD Solid-state Drive
TB3 Thunderbolt 3
TCVCXO Temperature Compensated Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator
TDD Time-division duplex
Tx Transmit
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
U.FL Miniature RF coax connector, manufactured for use as the antenna interface on M.2 cards
USB Universal Serial Bus
W.FL Micro-Miniature RF coaxial connector manufactured by Hirose
Table 1: Terms and Definitions

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Sidekiq NV100 is a miniature software defined radio card in a M.2 2280 card form factor, providing a
flexible wideband RF transceiver that can be used by a host system. The M.2 2280 form factor is
widely used for PCIe-based NVMe® solid state drives (SSDs) in commercial laptops, embedded
systems and servers. The features of the Sidekiq NV100 include the following:
Compliant with M.2 2280 card form factor (22mm x 80mm x 4.5mm), Module Key B+M
RF transceiver covering 30 MHz to 6 GHz (RF access to 10 MHz), with independent Tx and Rx
frequencies (Analog Devices ADRV9004 RFIC)
Supports RF channel bandwidths up to 40 MHz
Supports multiple RF modes:
*Dual channel phase coherent Rx
Dual channel independently tunable Rx
Single channel Tx and single channel Rx
1Tx + 1Rx (FDD, on different antenna ports)
1Tx + 1Rx (TDD, on the same antenna port)
1Tx + 1Rx (TDD, on different antenna ports)
*Dual channel phase coherent receive is currently in development and will be supported in a future
software/firmware release. Contact Epiq Solutions support for further information.
Receive only:
Single channel receive
up to 40 MHz IBW
*Two phase coherent channel receive
up to 40 MHz IBW
Two independently tunable channel receive
up to 40 MHz IBW each
Transmit only:
Single channel transmit
Dual channel transmit
Receive and transmit:
Single channel TDD (TRX)
SYSTEM OVERVIEW

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RxA1 / TxA1
Dual channel, independently tunable TDD
RxA1 / TxA1 and RxB1 / TxB1
Single channel FDD
RxB1 / TxA1, indep tunable
A/D and D/A quadrature sample rates from 24 Ksamples/sec up to 61.44 Msamples/sec, with
16-bit precision
User programmable FPGA for signal processing applications (Xilinx Artix XC7A50T-2CPG236I)
SPI flash for storage and automatic FPGA bitstream loading at boot-up
Sub-octave Rx pre-select filtering for interference protection from 30 MHz to 6 GHz on each RF
receiver
Integrated GPS receiver with PPS for high accuracy
On-board 40 MHz TCVCXO with +/- 0.1 PPM accuracy; support for optional external 10 MHz or
40 MHz reference clock input, software controlled
PCIe Gen 2.0 (5 Gbps) x2 interface to the host platform
Support for external 1PPS input signal for sample time alignment across multiple Sidekiq units
Weight: 9 grams
Power: 4 - 6 W (application dependent)

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Figure 1: Sidekiq NV100 front side
Figure 2: Sidekiq NV100 block diagram

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RF Input U.FL miniature coaxial connector (50 ohms)
Architecture Zero-IF (direct conversion)
Tuning Range 30 MHz to 6 GHz (RF access to 10 MHz)
Tuning Step Size ~4.5 Hz
Tuning Time Refer to Sidekiq Software Development Manual, Release 4.17.x or later - Methods of LO
frequency tuning
Typical Noise Figure < 5 dB
Typical IIP3 (J1) Rx1: 0 dBm
(J2) Rx2: +9 dBm
Gain Control Range 0 to 34 dB, 0.5 dB steps
Gain control Modes Manual or AGC
A/D Converter Sample
Rate 24 Ksamples/sec to 61.44 Msamples/sec
A/D Converter Sample
Width 16 bits
Typical I/Q balance > 65 dB
Max. RF input signal
(without damage) +20 dBm
RF full scale input (at
max gain) -18 dBm on (J1) and -25 dBm on (J2), frequency dependent
RF Pre-Selection
Filtering
Sub-octave pre-select filtering for interference protection from 30 MHz to 6 GHz;
automatically selected when tuning the RF receiver.
Table 2: RF Receiver Spec
HARDWARE SPECIFICATION
RF RECEIVER SPECIFICATION

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RF Output U.FL miniature coaxial connector (50 ohms)
Architecture Zero-IF (direct conversion)
Tuning Range 30 MHz to 6 GHz (RF access to 10 MHz)
Tuning Step Size ~4.5 Hz
Tuning Time Refer to Sidekiq Software Development Manual, Release 4.17.x or later - Methods of LO
frequency tuning
Gain Control Range 0 to 48 dB, 0.25 dB steps
Max. RF Transmit Output
Power +5 dBm
Typical OIP3 30 dBm
D/A Converter Sample
Rate 24 Ksamples/sec to 61.44 Msamples/sec
D/A Converter Sample
Width 16 bits
Typical I/Q balance > 60 dB
Table 3: RF Transmitter Spec
RF Input Port U.FL miniature coaxial connector (50 ohms)
On Board Reference Clock 40 MHz, +/- 0.1 PPM accuracy, (shared with Rx & Tx)
P/N: SiTime SIT5356
External Reference Clock Input Frequency 10 MHz or 40 MHz
External Reference Clock Input Power Range 0.8 – 1.3 Vpp, 0 dBm max from 50 ohm source for 40 MHz
0.8 – 3.0 Vpp, +7 dBm max from 50 ohm source for 10 MHz
Reference Clock Output Frequency 40 MHz
Reference Clock Output Power ~1.3 Vpp into high-Z load or ~635 mVpp into 50 ohm load
PPS Input Level 3.3V max.
Table 4: Clock Spec
RF TRANSMITTER SPECIFICATION
CLOCK/SYNCHRONIZATION SPECIFICATION

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M.2 slot type M.2 2280 B+M card form factor (22mm x 80mm x 4.5mm), Module Key B+M
FPGA Xilinx Artix 7 XC7A50T-2CPG236I with x2 PCIe interface to host
FPGA Reprogramming Over PCIe
FLASH Micron 128Mb MT25QU128ABA1EW7-0SIT or equivalent
GPS / GPSDO P/N: u-blox ZOE-M8 GNSS SiP module
NMEA sentences, PPS, and frequency-disciplining
GPS Antenna Input U.FL antenna input, 3.3V bias for active GPS antenna, software enable/disable
Inertial Measurement Unit
(IMU) Sensor
TDK / InvenSense ICM-20602
6-axis MotionTracking Device (3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer)
- Gyroscope sensitivity error: ±1%
- Gyroscope noise: ±4 mdps/√Hz
- Accelerometer noise: 100 μg/√Hz
Temperature Sensor
Texas Instruments TMP6131DECR
Range: -40 deg C to +125 deg C (+/- 1 deg C typ)
Resolution: 1 deg C
Component Temperature
Rating
-30 deg C* to + 85 deg C
*Operation down to -40 deg C is supported, though the TCVCXO will operate outside of
the +/- 0.1 PPM accuracy specification.
Table 5: HW Spec
HARDWARE SPECIFICATION

Sidekiq™ NV100 | Hardware User Manual Hardware Interfaces
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Sidekiq NV100 provides a variety of different hardware interfaces. Each of these hardware interfaces
is shown in the annotated diagram and defined below.
Figure 3: Annotated diagram of Sidekiq NV100 hardware I/O interfaces
HARDWARE INTERFACES

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This RF interface is a U.FL jack connector (J1) that provides an RF input path for the RxA1 or RxB1
antenna ports, or an RF output path for the TxA1 antenna port, supports RF input frequencies up to
6 GHz. The maximum allowable RF input power level at this U.FL connector without causing
damage is +20dBm.
The following libsidekiq software library handles can be mapped to this interface:
RxA1 handle skiq_rx_hdl_A1
RxB1 handle skiq_rx_hdl_B1
TxA1 handle skiq_tx_hdl_A1
This RF interface is a U.FL jack connector (J2) that provides an RF output path for the TxB1
antenna port or an RF input path for the RxB1 antenna port, supports frequencies up to 6 GHz. The
maximum allowable RF input power level at this U.FL connector without causing damage is
+20dBm.
The following libsidekiq software library handles can be mapped to this interface:
TxB1 handle skiq_tx_hdl_B1
RxB1 handle skiq_rx_hdl_B1
This interface can also be switched to act as a second receive port, allowing a second RF
connection for banded receive antennas or TDD support. The selection of either transmit or receive
mode for this antenna port can be controlled via the libsidekiq software library.
Handle RF Port [Fixed-Mode] RF Port [TRX-Mode]
skiq_rx_hdl_A1 skiq_rf_port_J1 skiq_rf_port_J1
skiq_tx_hdl_A1 skiq_rf_port_J1 skiq_rf_port_J1
skiq_rx_hdl_B1 skiq_rf_port_J1 or skiq_rf_port_J2 skiq_rf_port_J2
skiq_tx_hdl_B1 skiq_rf_port_J2 skiq_rf_port_J2
Table 6: RF Port Mapping
ANTENNA PORT 1 (RXA1/RXB1/TXA1)
ANTENNA PORT 2 (TXB1/RXB1)