MOGlabs ARF021 User manual

Agile RF Synthesizer & AOM driver
ARF021/ARF421, XRF021/XRF421
Version1.3.0,Rev2,3and4.

Limitation of Liability
MOGLaboratoriesPtyLtd(MOGLabs)doesnotassumeanyliabil-
ity 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) 2015–2017.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
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Forfurtherinformation,pleasecontact:
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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
thefollowing safetyinformationbeforeattemptingtooperate. Also
please note several specific and unusual cautionary notes before
using the MOGLabs ARF/XRF, in addition to the safety precautions
thatarestandardforanyelectronicequipment.
CAUTION Toensurecorrectcoolingairflow,theunitshouldnotbeoper-
atedwithcoverremoved.
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.
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Protection Features
TheMOGLabsARF/XRF includesanumberoffeaturestoprotectyou
andyourdevice.
Open/short circuit EachRF outputshouldbe connectedtoa50Ωload. TheAR-
F/XRFwilldisableeachhigh-powerRFoutputifnotconnected
orifashort-circuitisdetected.
Reflected power The RF reflected power and VSWR (voltage standing wave
ratio)aremonitoredandRFoutputisdisabledifeitherexceeds
theirsafelimitsettings.
Mains filter Protectionagainstmainstransients.
Temperature Severaltemperaturesensorscontrolthefanandwilltriggera
shutdownifthetemperatureexceedsasafelimit.
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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 Frontpaneldisplay/monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Rearpanelcontrolsandconnections. . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4 InternalDIPswitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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........................ 23
4.5 ExternalI/Osettings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5 External modulation 27
5.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.2 Modulationgain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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5.3 Dualmodulation: fastandslowmodes . . . . . . . . 29
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 Configuration....................... 44
7.4 TTLswitching....................... 46
7.5 Externalswitchingtiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.6 Counters.......................... 50
7.7 Examples.......................... 51
8 Simple table mode 53
8.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.2 Definingtableentries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.3 DigitalI/O......................... 57
8.4 Loopsandtriggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
8.5 Uploadanddownload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
8.6 Re-armandrestart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
8.7 Linearramps ....................... 67
8.8 Synchronoustableexecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
9 Advanced table mode (XRF) 71
9.1 Operationalprinciple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
9.2 Definingtableentries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
9.3 Initialandfinalstates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9.4 Counters.......................... 77
9.5 Loopsandtriggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9.6 Linearrampsusingextrapolation. . . . . . . . . . . . 79
9.7 Frequencygain...................... 81
9.8 Otherinstructionparameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Contents vii
9.9 Additionalexamples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
A Specifications 89
B Firmware upgrades 91
B.1 Firmwarecomponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
B.2 Factoryreset....................... 92
B.3 Upgradeviamogrffw .................. 92
B.4 Upgradeviawebinterface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
B.5 UpgradinganARF toanXRF .............. 96
C Command language 97
C.1 Arguments......................... 97
C.2 Generalfunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
C.3 Basiccontrol ....................... 98
C.4 PrimaryRF control.................... 99
C.5 Modulation ........................101
C.6 Digitalrampgenerator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
C.7 Monitoroutputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
C.8 Clockreference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
C.9 Tablemode ........................106
C.10PIDfeedback.......................108
C.11 ExternalIOfunctions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
C.12 Configurationsettings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
C.13 DirectDDScontrol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
D Code examples 115
D.1 python ...........................115
D.2 matlab ...........................117
D.3 LabVIEW ..........................118

viii Contents