MOGlabs ARF021 User manual

Agile RF Synthesizer & AOM driver
ARF021/ARF421, XRF021/XRF421
Version1.5.0,Rev6.

Limitation of Liability
MOGLaboratoriesPtyLtd(MOGLabs)doesnotassumeanyliabi-
lity arising out of the use of the information contained within this
manual. This document may contain or reference information and
products protected by copyrights or patents and does not convey
any license under the patent rights of MOGLabs, nor the rights of
others. MOGLabs will not be liable for any defect in hardware or
softwareorlossorinadequacyofdataofanykind,orforanydirect,
indirect, incidental, or consequential damages in connections with
orarisingoutoftheperformanceoruseofanyofitsproducts. The
foregoing limitation of liability shall be equally applicable to any
serviceprovidedbyMOGLabs.
Copyright
Copyright c
MOG Laboratories Pty Ltd (MOGLabs) 2015–2018.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written
permissionofMOGLabs.
Contact
Forfurtherinformation,pleasecontact:
MOGLaboratoriesP/L
49UniversitySt
CarltonVIC3053
AUSTRALIA
+61399390677
www.moglabs.com
MOGLabsUSALLC
41914thSt
HuntingdonPA16652
USA
+18142514363
www.moglabsusa.com
MOGLabsEurope
Goethepark9
10627Berlin
Germany
+493021960959
www.moglabs.eu

Preface
Acousto-opticmodulators(AOMs)areanintegralpartofmanylaser-
basedexperiments. Theyareusedforfrequencyshifting,amplitude
modulation,andlaserfrequencystabilisation. Manyexperimentsre-
quireverysimplecontroloftheRF frequencyandpower,butothers
require sophisticated sequences. The MOGLabs ARF/XRF agile RF
synthesizerprovidessuchcomplexitywithauser-friendlyinterface.
The extraordinary capabilities of the ARF/XRF have not previously
been available from any single supplier, let alone in a single unit.
Two channels, with direct output of up to 4W per channel. Wide
frequency range of 20 to 400MHz. Arbitrary frequency, amplitude
andphasewithhighresolution. Analoguemodulationofeachchan-
nel,infrequency,amplitude,and/orphase,with10MHzbandwidth.
Ergonomicfront-panelcontrols,andethernet/USB interface. Table-
modeoperationtodefinecomplextime-dependentwaveformoutput.
All in one box which connects directly to AC mains power and to
yourAOMs. Asyoudelveintothismanualyouwilluncovermoreand
morecapability,butthepowerfulFPGA attheheartoftheARF/XRF
allowssoftwareimprovementstoaddnewfeatures,sopleasecheck
theMOGLabswebsiteforupdates,examplecode,andassistance.
WehopethatyouenjoyusingtheARF/XRF,andpleaseletusknow
if you have any suggestions for improvement in the ARF/XRF or in
thisdocument,sothatwecanmakelifeinthelabbetterforall.
MOGLabs,Melbourne,Australia
www.moglabs.com
i

ii

Safety Precautions
Safeandeffectiveuseofthisproductisveryimportant. Pleaseread
thefollowingsafetyinformation beforeattemptingtooperate. Also
please note several specific and unusual cautionary notes before
using the MOGLabs ARF/XRF, in addition to the safety precautions
thatarestandardforanyelectronicequipment.
CAUTION Toensurecorrectcoolingairflow,theunitshouldnotbeope-
ratedwithcoverremoved.
WARNING Highvoltagesareexposedinternally,particularlyaroundthe
mains power inlet and internal power supply unit. The unit
shouldnotbeoperatedwithcoverremoved.
NOTE The MOGLabs ARF/XRF is designed for use in scientific re-
search laboratories. It should not be used for consumer or
medicalapplications.
iii

Protection Features
TheMOGLabsARF/XRF includesanumberoffeaturestoprotectyou
andyourdevice.
Open/short circuit Each RF output should be connected to a 50Ωload. The
ARF/XRF will disable each high-power RF output if not con-
nectedorifashort-circuitisdetected.
Reflected power The RF reflected power and VSWR (voltage standing wave
ratio)aremonitoredandRFoutputisdisabledifeitherexceeds
theirsafelimitsettings.
Mains filter Protectionagainstmainstransients.
Temperature Severaltemperaturesensorscontrolthefanandwilltriggera
shutdownifthetemperatureexceedsasafelimit.
iv

Contents
Preface i
Safety Precautions iii
Protection Features iv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Operatingmodes..................... 2
1.2 RF on/offcontrol ..................... 4
2 Connections and controls 5
2.1 Frontpanelcontrols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Rearpanelcontrolsandconnections. . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 InternalDIPswitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Communications 11
3.1 Protocol.......................... 11
3.2 TCP/IP........................... 13
3.3 USB............................ 14
4 MOGRF host software 17
4.1 Devicediscovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2 Devicecommander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.3 MOGRFmainwindow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.4 Tableviewer........................ 24
4.5 ExternalI/Osettings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5 External modulation 27
5.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.2 Modulationgain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.3 Dualmodulation: fastandslowmodes . . . . . . . . 29
v

vi Contents
5.4 Examples.......................... 30
6 PID stabilisation 35
6.1 Signalconditioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.2 PIDcontrolloop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.3 DualmodulationwithPID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.4 Noise-eaterimplementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5 Example.......................... 39
7 Digital I/O 41
7.1 DB15connector...................... 41
7.2 High-speeddigital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.3 XSMAbreakoutboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
7.4 Configuration....................... 46
7.5 TTLswitching....................... 48
7.6 Externalswitchingtiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7.7 Counters.......................... 51
7.8 Examples.......................... 52
8 Simple table mode 55
8.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.2 Definingtableentries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.3 DigitalI/O......................... 59
8.4 Loopsandtriggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
8.5 Uploadanddownload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
8.6 Re-armandrestart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
8.7 Linearramps ....................... 69
8.8 Synchronoustableexecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
9 Advanced table mode (XRF) 73
9.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
9.2 Definingtableentries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
9.3 Initialandfinalstates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9.4 Counters.......................... 79
9.5 Loopsandtriggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.6 Linearrampsusingextrapolation. . . . . . . . . . . . 81
9.7 Frequencygain...................... 83
9.8 Otherinstructionparameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Contents vii
9.9 Additionalexamples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
A Specifications 91
B Firmware upgrades 93
B.1 Firmwarecomponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B.2 Factoryreset....................... 94
B.3 Upgradeviamogrffw .................. 94
B.4 Upgradeviawebinterface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
B.5 UpgradinganARF toanXRF .............. 98
C Command language 99
C.1 Arguments......................... 99
C.2 Generalfunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
C.3 Basiccontrol .......................100
C.4 PrimaryRF control....................101
C.5 Modulation ........................103
C.6 Digitalrampgenerator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
C.7 Monitoroutputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
C.8 Clockreference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
C.9 Tablemode ........................108
C.10PIDfeedback.......................111
C.11 ExternalIOfunctions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
C.12 Configurationsettings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
C.13 DirectDDScontrol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
D Code examples 119
D.1 python ...........................119
D.2 matlab ...........................121
D.3 LabVIEW ..........................122

viii Contents

1. Introduction
The MOGLabs ARF/XRF consists of two independent AD9910 direct
digital synthesizer (DDS) sources, each with 4W amplifier. The
frequency,amplitudeandphaseofeachoutputissoftware-controlled
viaamicrocontrollerandFPGA(fieldprogrammablegatearray). This
enablesdirectcontrolofthefrequency,amplitudeandphaseofthe
RFsignals,whichcanbeadjustedinreal-timeusingthefront-panel
controlknobs,orviaascriptinglanguageoverethernetorUSB.The
RFparameterscanbedefinedinalookuptable(loadedviaethernet
orUSB)toenablecomplexsequenceswithveryfasttransitions.
The block diagram below shows the key components. The RF sig-
nal output from each DDS is low-pass filtered, pre-amplified, and
FPGA
FrontPanelDisplay &Control
Local
Oscillator
Micro
controller
DDS + RF
AD9910 DDS
LP lter
RF switch
RF amplier
Power detector
DAC
Output
A/D
(2perchannel)
RF on/o
7-polelters
10MHz
External
Clock
Ethernet
10/100
Fast RAM
table memory
USB
RFOUT
4xMOD IN
RFon/o
RAM table
memory
1

2Chapter 1. Introduction
thenfurtheramplified withaGaN hybrid high-poweroutput stage
(ARF421/XRF421 only). TheRF signalsaremonitoredtocheckoutput
powerandtomeasurethereflection(VSWR).
TheDDSchipsarecontrolledbytheFPGA.Amicrocontrollerprovides
externalinterfacewithTCPIP andUSB communications,andcontrols
thefront-paneldisplay,rotaryencoders(knobs)andpush-buttons.
The device allows analogue modulation through two analogue-to-
digitalconverters(ADC)withanti-aliasingfilters. Whenmodulation
isenabled,theFPGA periodicallyreadsthevalueofthemodulation
signaland uses that value to reprogramthe DDS frequency, power
and/orphase.
TheARF/XRFincludesmemoryforstoringcomplexwaveformsequen-
ces,whereeachstepinthesequencecanincludefrequency,power,
phase,timedelay,andmorecomplexdefinitionsoframpsandother
time-dependentfunctions. Complexcapabilitiescanbeaccessedvia
eitherTCPIP orUSB communications. SeeChapter3forinformation
oncommunicationsoptionsandsetup.
Oncecommunicationsareestablished,theARF/XRFcanbecontrolled
with simple text commands. The commands can be very basic, for
exampletodefinethefrequencyorpower,ortheycandefinecomplex
dynamicsequences. AppendixCprovidesasummaryoftheavailable
commands.
1.1 Operating modes
TheARF/XRF can beusedatvaryinglevels ofcomplexity,aseither
a free-running RF source or to follow pre-determined instructions
definedinatable. Themodesofoperationareoutlinedbelow,and
thecurrentoperationalmodeofeachchannelcanbeindividuallyset
usingtheMODE command.

1.1 Operating modes 3
NSB: Basic mode
Default state on power-up. In this mode, each channel acts as a
simple single-frequency RF source, with the DDS chips controlled
directly by the FPGA. The frequency and power of the signal can
becontrolledviathefrontpanel,usingsimpleinstructionsoverthe
computer interface (e.g. FREQ or POW), or using the modulation in-
puts. Basic mode is convenient for driving AOMs and other single-
frequencydevices,withtheflexibilityofmodulationandPIDcontrol.
NSA: Advanced mode
Advancedmodeprovidesdirectuser-controlofeachDDSthroughits
internalregistersviatheDDS command. Directprogrammingofeach
DDS iscomplexandnotnecessaryformostapplications;itrequires
carefulreferencetotheAD9910 datasheetandmanualcalculationof
thehardwareregisters.
TSB: Simple table mode
In table mode, the RF parameters are automatically sequenced by
the FPGA according to a table of values pre-loaded by the micro-
controllerandsteppedthroughautomatically. Thetableentriesare
definedbysimpletextcommandsfromthehostcomputerwhichde-
fine the RF frequency, amplitude, phase and any I/O behaviour, as
detailedinchapter8. TheminimumdurationofaTSB entryis1µs
andeachtablecancompriseupto8191instructions.
TPA: Advanced table mode
XRF models provide a more advanced table mode with greatly im-
provedtimingresolutionandsingleparameterupdatesat16nsin-
tervals. Smoothpulsescanbegeneratedwithprecisecontrolofthe
envelopethroughpiecewise-linearinterpolation. Detailsonadvan-
cedtablemodefunctionalityaredescribedinchapter9.

4Chapter 1. Introduction
1.2 RF on/off control
TheRF output can beturnedon and off via software control of the
DDS generators (through the POW command), but for many applica-
tions that is too slow, and the extinction ratio is inadequate. The
ARF/XRFhasadditionalhardware-basedon/offcontrolontheoutput
ofeachDDS,usinganRF switchbeforetheamplifiers.
Thishardwareswitchshort-circuitstheRFoutputoftheDDS,andcan
becontrolledviaacombinationofsoftwareandhardwareinputs(see
§7.6). In this way, the RF can be controlled using the front panel,
theON/OFF commands,aswellasviatableentrieswithappropriate
flags.
ThereisadditionalcontroloftheDC suppliestothehigh-powerRF
amplifierstofurtherimprovetheextinctionratio. Theresponsetime
issignificantlylongerthanjustswitchingtheRF signal,butreduces
theRF noiseontheoutput.

2. Connections and controls
2.1 Front panel controls
ON/OFF
CHANNEL 1 CHANNEL 2 CONTROL
AgileRFSynthesizer
Starting with Rev6devices, the front-panel includes an interactive
menu system for controlling the device. The buttons on the right-
handsideofthedisplaynavigatethroughthemenustructure,while
theencoderwheelisusedtoeditvalues. The↑and↓keyschange
betweenmenu items, exits to theprevious menu, and OK enters
theselectedmenuoractivatestheselectedcommand.
The main menu (Figure 2.1) shows the current mode and status of
eachchannel. Inbasic(NSB)mode,thecurrentfrequencyandpower
ofeachchannelisdisplayed,aswellaswhethermodulationiscur-
rentlyenabled. PressingtheOKbuttonwithachannelselectedwill
openthesub-menutoadjustsettingsforthatchannel(Figure2.2).
Thecolorofeachmenuitemrepresentsitspurpose,aslistedbelow.
White Staticvalue,displayedfordiagnosticpurposes.
Yellow Adjustablevalue,modifiedusingtheencoderwheel.
Orange Currentlyselectedchannel.
Blue Submenu,enteredwiththeOK button.
Green Command,executedbytheOK button.
5

6Chapter 2. Connections and controls
Figure 2.1: Themainmenushowsthecurrentstateofeachchannel. Left:
both channels are in basic mode, with AM and FM enabled on CH1, and
PM enabledonCH2. Right: CH2 isinbasictablemode,withthenumber
ofentriesinthetableshown.
Figure 2.2: Thebasicparametersofeachchannelcanbeediteddirectly.
Turningtheencoderwheelmodifiestheselecteddigitofthecurrentvalue
(left) as indicated by the arrow. Pressing the encoder wheel changes to
digit select mode (right), allowing the selected digit to be changed by
turningtheencoder.
Figure 2.3: The options menu allows configuration of various settings,
suchasthemaximumoutputpower(left)andethernetoptions(right).

2.1 Front panel controls 7
When an editable (yellow) value is selected, turning the encoder
wheel changes the value of the selected digit as identified by the
arrowandredtext. Tochangethedigitofinterest,presstheencoder
wheelandtheinterfacewillchangetodigit selection mode. Inthis
mode,thecurrentlyselecteddigitisshownonablackbackground,
andischangedbyturningtheencoderwheel. Pressingtheencoder
againreturnstovalue modification mode.
The options menu (Figure 2.3) allows the device configuration to
be adjusted. In particular, the power limitapplied to each channel
shouldbesetasperthedesiredapplicationbeforeuse(seealsothe
LIM command). Theethernet settingsofthe devicecan also beset
usingthisinterface,includingwhethertoenableDHCP andthefall-
backstaticIPaddressofthedevice. Wheninuse,thenetworkstatus
isdisplayedonthedisplayfooter,andonceconnecteddisplaysthe
currentIP address. Notethatthe“Restartethernet”commandmust
beusedbeforechangesintheethernetmenuwilltakeeffect.
Eachchannelofthedevicecanbeturnedonoroffusingthepush-
buttons on the left of the front-panel. Each channel also has an
associatedmulti-colourstatusLEDindicatorwhosecolourshowsthe
currentoutputstateofthechannelasfollows.
Colour DDS signal Amplifiers
Off 7 7
Green 3 3
Yellow 3 7
Blue 7 3
Purple Debugmode
Red Errorstate
Theoverallbrightnessofthedisplaycanbesetwiththe“contrast”
valueintheOptionsmenu. Thedisplayalsoincludesa“sleep”timer
thatdimsthedisplayifithasn’treceivedinputinagivenperiodof
time. Thisfeaturecanbedisabledbysettingthesleeptimervalue
to0.

8Chapter 2. Connections and controls
2.2 Rear panel controls and connections
90-264Vac
47-63 Hz
RF OUT 1
MON 1 MON 2
Model:
Serial No:
RF OUT 2 CLK IN
FREQ 1 FREQ 2
AMP 2AMP 1
IEC power in TheARF iscompatiblewithallstandardAC powersystems,from90
to264Vand47to63Hz. Themaximumcurrentdrawisabout1A.
Fan TheARFhasthreetemperature-controlledfansdirectingairflowover
theRF poweramplifiersandtheFPGA,exhaustingthroughtherear
vent. Ensurethattheventdoesnotbecomeblocked.
RF OUT TheprimaryRF outputs. Shouldbeconnectedtoa50Ωloadwhen
outputisenabled.
MON Separatelybuffered RF outputs for monitoring, at −20dBc to each
mainoutputwhenhigh-impedanceterminated.
AMP/FREQ EachRFchannelhastwoassociatedanalogueinputs,FREQandAMP,
nominallyforfrequencyandamplitudemodulation. TheFREQ input
canoptionallybereconfiguredtoperformphasemodulation. These
modulation inputs can be used for laser noise-eater or frequency
stabilisationapplications(seechapter5).
CLK IN TheARF usesahighstabilityoven-stabilisedcrystalclock,butcan
also be synchronised to a high-performance external clock (5MHz
to 1GHz) input via this connector. The input is 50Ω terminated,
shouldbebetween−10and+10dBm,andpreferablysquare-wave.
DB15 The DB15 connector provides basic I/O functionality (§7.1). There
areTTLinputsforquicklysuppressingtheRFoutput,andTTLoutputs

2.3 Internal DIP switches 9
forcontrollingexperimentaldevicessuchasshutters. Twogeneral-
purposeanalogueoutputsarealsoavailableformonitoringpurposes.
The B3110 breakout board is available to provide convenient SMA
connectorsforeachI/Ochannel.
RJ45/USB-A Ethernet(TCP/IP10/100Mb/s)andUSB communicationsjacks.
2.3 Internal DIP switches
Four DIP switchesare providedto assistindiagnosis andrecovery
oftheARF/XRF units.
WARNING ThereispotentialforexposuretohighvoltagesinsidetheARF/XRF.
Take care aroundthe power supplyand ensure thatobjects, parti-
cularlyelectricallyconductingobjects,donotentertheunit.
CAUTION Thecovershouldbeleftontoensureproperairflowandcooling.
OFF ON
1Normaloperation Legacyfirmwareupdatemode
2DisableFPGA Normaloperation
3Usefactorysettings Normaloperation
4Normaloperation Factoryreset
DIP 1 Default OFF. If switched ON, the unit will start in legacy firmware
uploadmode. Connecttothedeviceusingaweb-browserandupload
firmware to the microcontroller. It is strongly recommended to use
mogrffw to update the firmware as described in Appendix B; this
optionisonlyprovidedasafallbackoptionincasemogrffw fails.
DIP 2 DefaultON.NormaloperationrequiresthatanFPGA imagebeloa-
dedfromFLASHmemoryintotheFPGA,whichtakes10–20s. Inthe
eventofacorruptFPGA image,disableDIP 2andapplyafirmware
update.

10 Chapter 2. Connections and controls
DIP 3 DefaultON.Devicesettings, including networksettings, arestored
inEEPROMandloadedonstartup. IfinvalidsettingsaresavedtoEE-
PROM,disableDIP 3toloadfactorydefaultstofacilitatedebugging
anddiagnostics.
DIP 4 Default OFF. Switch ON and reboot to restore the unit to factory
settings. Firmware for both microcontroller and FPGA, as well as
theEEPROM settings,willberestored.
Other manuals for ARF021
3
This manual suits for next models
3
Table of contents
Other MOGlabs Synthesizer manuals
Popular Synthesizer manuals by other brands

Technics
Technics ST-9038 operating instructions

Heckmann Audio
Heckmann Audio Repro-1 100B Operation manual

Cirrus Logic
Cirrus Logic CS2000-OTP General description

Make Noise
Make Noise Black & Gold Shared System manual

Thonk
Thonk TouellSkouarn Strakal Brulu instructions

Novatech
Novatech 2910A instruction manual