Texas Instruments AFE5818 User manual

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AFE5818 16-Channel Analog Front End Evaluation Module (EVM Rev. C)
User's Guide
SLOU430A–December 2015–Revised February 2016
AFE5818 16-Channel Analog Front End Evaluation Module
(EVM Rev. C)
This user’s guide gives a general overview of the AFE5818 evaluation module (EVM) and provides a
general description of the features and functions to be considered while using this module. This manual is
applicable to the AFE5818 analog front-end, and to the Rev. C version of the EVM hardware. The
AFE5818 EVM provides a platform for evaluating the AFE under various signal, clock, reference, and ADC
output formats. In addition, the EVM supports the testing of the LVDS interface. Note that if using the
LVDS interface, the TSW1400EVM capture card is required.
This user’s guide refers to software HMC-DAQ GUI v.2.8 or higher, and HSDCPro Software v.4.1 or
higher and requires Microsoft®Windows®7 to function.
For any further questions regarding the EVM, GUI or device, please contact: [email protected]
Contents
1 EVM Hardware Overview................................................................................................... 4
2 GUI Software Installation ................................................................................................... 5
3 Quick Views of Evaluation Setups for LVDS Interface.................................................................. 6
3.1 Equipment Setup Overview ....................................................................................... 6
4 Testing the EVM Data Capture With LVDS ............................................................................. 8
4.1 EVM Hardware Setup.............................................................................................. 8
4.2 Capturing an Analog Input Signal With the LVDS Interface................................................... 9
5 Testing the EVM in CW Mode............................................................................................ 16
Appendix A Software Installation .............................................................................................. 18
Appendix B Hardware Configuration .......................................................................................... 31
Appendix C Triggering Options................................................................................................. 35
Appendix D Common Hardware Modifications............................................................................... 37
Appendix E Hardware Reference.............................................................................................. 38
Appendix F FAQ and Troubleshooting........................................................................................ 57
List of Figures
1 AFE5818 EVM Hardware Overview....................................................................................... 4
2 Provided Power Cable for J1 Connector ................................................................................. 5
3 LVDS Evaluation Setup Overview......................................................................................... 6
4 TSW1400EVM and AFE5818 EVM Hardware Setup for LVDS Capture ............................................ 8
5 Connect to TSW EVM (TSW1400 Shown)............................................................................... 9
6 Connect to TSW EVM....................................................................................................... 9
7 Choose Firmware (AFE5818 Shown).................................................................................... 10
8 Update Firmware?.......................................................................................................... 10
9 Firmware Download Progress Bar ....................................................................................... 10
10 TSW LEDs Turn On After FW Download ............................................................................... 11
11 Launching Device GUI EXE .............................................................................................. 11
12 HMC-DAQ GUI Launches................................................................................................. 12
13 Clock Configuration on AFE EVM for LVDS ........................................................................... 12
14 AFE_RST Hardware Reset Button....................................................................................... 13
15 Software Reset Button..................................................................................................... 13

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16 Initialize Device............................................................................................................. 13
17 GUI Quick Start Setup: Output Data Configuration.................................................................... 13
18 LED D5 Turns On When ADC is Ready ................................................................................ 14
19 Choose VCA Gain.......................................................................................................... 14
20 Capture Button.............................................................................................................. 14
21 Analog Input Capture ...................................................................................................... 15
22 Initialize Device............................................................................................................. 16
23 CW Mode Preset ........................................................................................................... 16
24 CW Output .................................................................................................................. 17
25 HSDCPro Install (Begin)................................................................................................... 18
26 HSDCPro Install (TI License Agreement) .............................................................................. 19
27 HSDCPro Install (TI License Agreement)............................................................................... 19
28 HSDCPro Install (Install Directory)....................................................................................... 20
29 HSDCPro Install (Installation Ready).................................................................................... 20
30 HSDCPro Install (Cypress Driver Install)................................................................................ 21
31 HSDCPro Install (Continue Cypress Driver Installation) .............................................................. 21
32 HSDCPro Install (Continue Driver Installation)......................................................................... 22
33 HSDCPro Install (Finish Installation)..................................................................................... 22
34 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (Begin Installation) .............................................................................. 23
35 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (TI License Agreement) ........................................................................ 23
36 HMC-DAQ GUI Install(NI License Agreement)......................................................................... 24
37 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (Install Directory) ................................................................................ 24
38 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (Installation Ready) ............................................................................ 25
39 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (Installation Progress) .......................................................................... 25
40 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation)...................................................... 26
41 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation)...................................................... 26
42 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation) ..................................................... 27
43 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation) ..................................................... 27
44 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation) ..................................................... 28
45 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (LabView Run-time Engine Installation)...................................................... 29
46 HMC-DAQ GUI Install: (LabView RTE Cancel, if Installed Already)................................................. 29
47 HMC-DAQ GUI Install (Finished) ........................................................................................ 30
48 Default Jumper Positions ................................................................................................. 31
49 EVM ADC Clock Source Configuration.................................................................................. 33
50 EVM ADC Clock Source Configuration Examples..................................................................... 34
51 HSDCPro Trigger Configuration for SW................................................................................. 35
52 HSDCPro Trigger Configuration for SW trigger ........................................................................ 35
53 HSDCPro Trigger Configuration for HW ................................................................................ 36
54 HSDCPro Trigger Configuration for HW External Trigger ............................................................ 36
55 AFE5818 EVM Circuits Map.............................................................................................. 38
56 AFE5818 EVM Block Diagram ........................................................................................... 39
57 AFE5816 Rev C EVM Schematic 1 of 11............................................................................... 40
58 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 2 of 11............................................................................... 41
59 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 3 of 11............................................................................... 42
60 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 4 of 11............................................................................... 43
61 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 5 of 11............................................................................... 44
62 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 6 of 11............................................................................... 45
63 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 7 of 11............................................................................... 46
64 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 8 of 11............................................................................... 47

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65 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 9 of 11............................................................................... 48
66 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 10 of 11 ............................................................................. 49
67 AFE5818 Rev C EVM Schematic 11 of 11 ............................................................................. 50
68 Enable .NET Framework .................................................................................................. 57
69 Read DDR Error for No Capture ......................................................................................... 58
List of Tables
1 Default Header Configuration Table Rev.C............................................................................. 32
2 EVM Rev.C Testpoints .................................................................................................... 32
3 AFE5818 EVM Bill of Materials .......................................................................................... 51

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1 EVM Hardware Overview
Figure 1. AFE5818 EVM Hardware Overview
The EVM received should resemble Figure 1. For more hardware details and the default jumper map, see
Appendix B.

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The AFE5818 EVM kit contains the following items:
1. AFE5818 EVM
2. 1 mini-USB cable
3. Power cable with barrel connector
Figure 2. Provided Power Cable for J1 Connector
2 GUI Software Installation
The AFE5818 EVM and the TSW capture card EVM have individual software and both require software
installations. Ensure that no USB connections are made to the EVMs until after the installations are
complete. This user’s guide refers to software HMC-DAQ GUI v.2.8 or higher, and HSDCPro Software
v.4.1 or higher.
See the HSDCPro Installation section for information on the installation of the TSW EVM Software GUI
(HSDCPro). For information on the installation of the AFE5818 EVM Software GUI (HMC-DAQ GUI), see
the HMC-DAQ GUI Installation section.

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3 Quick Views of Evaluation Setups for LVDS Interface
The AFE5818 EVM is tested using the TSW1400EVM for LVDS data interface.
3.1 Equipment Setup Overview
As shown in Figure 3, mating the AFE5818 EVM with a TSW EVM allows for testing using the data
interface.
Figure 3. LVDS Evaluation Setup Overview
TSW Capture Card EVM: The TSW1400 EVM is required for capturing data from the AFE5818 EVM and
its analysis using the graphical user interface (GUI), called High Speed Data Converter Pro (HSDCPro).
For more information on the TSW1400EVM, see: TSW1400EVM.
Power Supply: A barrel connector power cable is provided with the EVM and is connected at J1, but
does not support the –5 V needed for the CW mode or Vcntl circuit. This requires an additional cable, not
provided.
This 5-V power supply must be able to source up to 2 A, and –5-V supply must provide up to 1 A. The –5-
V supply is used for the negative supply of amplifiers in the CW output external circuitry and Vcntl circuit.
The TSW1400 EVM is powered through a power cable similar to Figure 2 that is provided with its own
EVM kit.
USB Interface to PC: The USB connections from the AFE5818 EVM and TSW EVM to the PC are used
for communication from the GUIs to the boards. USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports are both acceptable.

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Equipment: Signal generators (with low-phase noise) must be used as source of the input signal
(0.01 MHz to 40 MHz) for optimal performance. An on-board crystal oscillator option is provided so that an
external clock source is not needed for basic capture. Additionally, for best performance a band-pass filter
(BPF) is recommended on the analog input signal to attenuate the harmonics and noise from the signal.
For coherent sampling or custom sample rate, an external clock is provided to J35 (GUI configuration is
required for the external clock configuration). For more information on clock configuration, see
Section B.1.3.

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4 Testing the EVM Data Capture With LVDS
This section outlines (1) the external connections required to test the AFE5818 EVM using the LVDS
interface, (2) how to setup the GUIs for testing, and (3) how to capture an analog input signal.
4.1 EVM Hardware Setup
Make the connections shown in Figure 4 or for proper hardware setup.
Figure 4. TSW1400EVM and AFE5818 EVM Hardware Setup for LVDS Capture
1. Board Mating: For LVDS data, mate the TSW1400 EVM at connector J3 to the AFE5818 EVM at
connector J59 through the high-speed ADC interface connector.
2. Power Supply: Connect a 5-V (2-A) power supply using the provided power cable to J12 (+5V_IN) of
the TSW1400 EVM. See the TSW manual for more information, if needed.
Next, connect a 5-V (2-A) power supply using the provided power cable to J1 of the AFE5818 EVM.
Connect the white-striped side of this cable to the 5-V power supply. Optionally, connect a –5-V
(1-A) supply at J3 or TP3 if using the CW or Vcntl circuit. No cable is provided for this.
Turn on the TSW1400 at the SW7 switch.
3. USB: After installing the GUIs as shown in Appendix A, connect the USB cable from PC to J5 (USB)
located on the top side of the AFE5818 EVM. Connect the USB cable from PC to J5 (USB_IF) of the
TSW1400 EVM. USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports are both acceptable for both EVMs. Note: TI recommends that
the PC USB port be able to support USB2.0. If unsure, always choose the USB ports at the back of the
PC chassis over ones located on the front or sides.
4. Equipment: Connect a sine wave generator to SMA J6, INP1. Set the frequency to 5 MHz and the
amplitude to –30 dBm. For best performance, a 5-MHz band-pass filter (BPF) is recommended on the
analog input signal to attenuate the harmonics and noise from the signal.

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4.2 Capturing an Analog Input Signal With the LVDS Interface
This section describes the software setup for capturing an analog input using the AFE5818 EVM. If there
is any issue with a data capture, refer to the troubleshooting section.
Data capture is confirmed by using only the Quick Setup page of the HMC-DAQ GUI. Assuming the
hardware is connected correctly as in Section 4.1, follow these steps to acquire data:
HSDCPro Actions:
1. Connect both EVMs to the PC using two USB cables as instructed in Section 4.1.
2. Open HSDCPro GUI using Run as Administrator.Do not open the HMC-DAQ GUI before this step
because it opens automatically. If it is already open, close it.
3. If the TSW Hardware is already connected to the USB, then a pop-up window should appear to
connect the HSDCPro GUI to the EVM Hardware.
Figure 5. Connect to TSW EVM (TSW1400 Shown)
4. A pop-up window prompts the user to choose a firmware to download to the TSW EVM FPGA.
Figure 6. Connect to TSW EVM
5. Select firmware as ' AFE5818 '.Be sure to choose the correct device to match the hardware or
the HMC-DAQ GUI shows an error when launching.

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Figure 7. Choose Firmware (AFE5818 Shown)
6. When prompted to update firmware, click the Yes button.
Figure 8. Update Firmware?
7. The firmware begins downloading to the FGPA on the TSW EVM.
Figure 9. Firmware Download Progress Bar
8. When the firmware has finished downloading, several Green LEDs are lit on the TSW EVM. For the
TSW1400, D5 (USER_LED3) may be on, and D6 is off.

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Figure 10. TSW LEDs Turn On After FW Download
9. The AFE5818 EVM GUI (HMC-DAQ) opens automatically at this time. Wait until this is finished to
continue. If any errors arise at this time, consult a TI engineer.
Figure 11. Launching Device GUI EXE

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Figure 12. HMC-DAQ GUI Launches
10. In HSDCPro, change the Test Selection to Single Tone'
11. In HSDCPro, change the window type to Blackman
HMC-DAQ GUI Actions:
1. Verify the clock configuration by matching J36, J34, J31, and J37 to Figure 13.
Figure 13. Clock Configuration on AFE EVM for LVDS
2. Press the AFE_RST button on the AFE EVM, located above the AFE device (SW1). Hold for 1 second.
Alternatively, press the DUT RESET button on the HMC-DAQ GUI.

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Figure 14. AFE_RST Hardware Reset Button
Figure 15. Software Reset Button
3. Press the Initialize Device button on the HMC-DAQ GUI. The progress bar indicates the device is
configured over SPI.
Figure 16. Initialize Device
4. Choose the desired serialized data format in the Output Format control.
5. The default ADC Format is Analog Input. This requires no action.
Figure 17. GUI Quick Start Setup: Output Data Configuration
6. At this point, D5 on the TSW1400 EVM should turn on. For the TSW14J56D, D3 turns off, and D4
should start blinking. If this is not the case, please consult the Appendix F section. There is most likely

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an ADC clock issue.
Figure 18. LED D5 Turns On When ADC is Ready
1. Choose VCA GAIN as Mid Gain.
Figure 19. Choose VCA Gain
2. Return to HSDCPro, and press the Capture button. A capture similar to that shown in Figure 21
appears. The quality of the output spectrum depends heavily on the coherency and the purity of the
input signal and clock. Since it is not possible to sync the input signal with the on-board clock, TI
recommends using a window in HSDCPro (found at the top of the spectrum graph). Blackman or
Hanning works, do not use Rectangular.
Figure 20. Capture Button

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Figure 21. Analog Input Capture

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5 Testing the EVM in CW Mode
Demonstrating the CW mixer in the AFE is done by following these steps:
1. In the HMC-DAQ GUI, initialize the device by pressing the Initialize Device button.
Figure 22. Initialize Device
2. Choose "CW: 16x 1.953 MHz"
Figure 23. CW Mode Preset
3. Connect a sine wave generator to SMA J6, INP1 or any other channel. Set the frequency to 1.963125
MHz and the amplitude to –20 dBm.
4. Connect two cables to an oscilloscope with timebase 40 µs and 500 mV/div. Input resistance should be
50 Ωon each scope channel.
5. Connect those two cables to SMAs, J53 and J57.
6. The oscilloscope displays the frequency I and Q signals at 10 kHz as shown in Figure 24. The
amplitude should be around 1.3 Vpp ±200 mVpp, though this amplitude may change. The frequency
should be 10 kHz and signals should be 90 degrees out of phase.
7. Trigger the oscilloscope on either channel.

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Figure 24. CW Output

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Software Installation
Appendix A
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Software Installation
Section A.1 provides detailed procedures for installing High Speed Data Converter Pro (HSDCPro), the
software GUI used to control a suite of FPGA capture solutions including the TSW1400. Section A.2
provides details for installing Healthtech Multi-Channel Data Acquisition (HMC-DAQ), the software GUI
which controls a suite of AFE and ADC solutions, including the AFE5818 .
A.1 High Speed Data Converter Pro (HSDCPro) GUI Installation
Go to the HSDCPro website. Under Technical Documents, find the Software section and download
and save the High Speed Data Converter Pro GUI Installer to the local PC hard drive.
1. Unzip the saved file and run the installer executable (Run as Administrator) to obtain the menu shown
in Figure 25.
2. Click the Next button.
Figure 25. HSDCPro Install (Begin)

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Software Installation
3. Read the License Agreement from Texas Instruments and select I accept the License Agreement,
then press the Next button as shown in Figure 26.
Figure 26. HSDCPro Install (TI License Agreement)
4. Read the License Agreement from Texas Instruments and select I accept the agreement, then press
the Next button as shown in Figure 27.
Figure 27. HSDCPro Install (TI License Agreement)

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Software Installation
5. Allow the installation to be placed in the default directory by clicking Next,asinFigure 28.
Figure 28. HSDCPro Install (Install Directory)
6. Click Next to begin the installation, as in Figure 29.
Figure 29. HSDCPro Install (Installation Ready)