AMD unveiled the Versal RF series on the 11th, featuring a built-in direct RF sampling data converter.

The Versal RF series provides precision wideband spectrum observation capabilities and up to 80 TOPS of digital signal processing (DSP) performance. It also supports RF system and test equipment applications in aerospace and defense, test and measurement, with a design optimized for size, weight, and power (SWaP).

AMD’s fifth-generation direct RF devices, the Versal RF series, are integrated heterogeneous compute solutions that build on the success of existing AMD Zynq RFSoC devices.

It is implemented monolithically in a single-chip device, including a high-resolution RF data converter, a hard IP-based DSP computing block, an AI engine for DSP, adaptive SoC programmable logic, and an Arm subsystem.

“Today’s advanced RF systems leverage massive DSP compute resources to rapidly process data,” said Salil Raje, general manager, Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group, AMD. “They require high-resolution, high-sample-rate RF data converters that can adapt to changing requirements, workloads, and mission profiles.”

“The AMD Versal RF series adaptable SoCs address these requirements on a single chip basis, delivering greater DSP compute performance and industry-leading RF sampling resolution than integrated multiple SoCs,” he said.

■ Precise broadband spectrum observation

Versal RF Series adaptive SoCs feature high-resolution, multichannel RF converters and low-latency processing capabilities to simultaneously capture and analyze signals across a wide spectrum.

△Phased array radar △Electromagnetic spectrum operations △Signal intelligence acquisition using a monolithically integrated high-resolution (14-bit compensation), 18-GHz RF ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) with a sampling rate of 32 GSPS △ Enables signal characterization and analysis through observation capabilities over a wide bandwidth of spectrum in aerospace and defense applications performing critical missions such as military and satellite communication terminals.

The Versal RF Series provides highly integrated solutions supporting multiple RF channels up to the Ku band, enabling advanced test and measurement signal processing such as arbitrary resampling and spectrum analysis in test and measurement applications such as high-speed oscilloscopes and wideband spectrum analyzers and generators.

Additionally, direct RF sampling up to 18 GHz and up to 32 GSPS enables digitization of RF bandwidths reaching several GHz across multiple channels simultaneously.

■ Large-scale DSP computing and SWaP optimization

The Versal RF series delivers up to 80 TOPS of DSP compute performance in channelizer mode, which is 19x greater than previous generation AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC devices.

Additionally, by implementing some critical DSP functions such as 4GSPS FFT/iFFT and channelizer, multi-phase arbitrary resampler, and LDPC decoder in dedicated hard IP blocks, dynamic power consumption can be reduced by up to 80% compared to AMD soft logic implementation.

The monolithic integration of direct RF sampling data converters, DSP hard IP blocks, AI engines, and adaptive SoC logic provides a flexible device optimized for SWaP critical to advanced signal processing applications in aerospace and defense, test and measurement.

Key DSP functions implemented in dedicated IP blocks provide significant power and space savings compared to soft logic implementations, while also providing greater computing performance in the same physical area.It can meet space-constrained form factor requirements.

Current silicon samples and evaluation kits are scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter of 2025, with mass production shipments expected to begin in the first half of 2027.