June 2, 2014 – Analog Devices ( www.analog.com , NASDAQ: ADI), the world's leading provider of high-performance semiconductors for signal processing applications and the number one data converter market share holder, announced the industry's fastest quad IF D/A converter. The AD9144 is a 4-channel, 16-bit, 2.8 GSPS D/A converter that provides high data rates and very wide signal bandwidth, enabling new bandwidth and multi-band wireless applications.

The AD9144 features a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 82 dBc and a sample rate of up to 2.8 GSPS, allowing for multi-carrier generation up to the maximum Nyquist frequency. The AD9144 can also enhance the transmitter's dynamic range through an industry-leading noise spectral density of 164 dBm/Hz. The AD9144's SFDR and unrivaled advanced design techniques for reduced distortion improve the quality of broadband signal synthesis from baseband to high mid-frequencies. With an 8-lane interface and low latency inherent in two D/A converter clock cycles, the JESD204B enables multi-chip synchronization while simplifying hardware and software design.

It provides a programmable interpolation rate and a high sample rate under low-power operating conditions of 1.5W, offering system designers a wide range of flexible choices when selecting the D/A converter output frequency. This is particularly helpful for meeting GSM transmission specifications and other communication standards with four or six carriers. The AD9144 operates at 77dBc with a 75MHz IF reference in a GSM IMD with 6 carriers. Operating with an on-chip phase-locked loop (PLL) at a D/A converter output frequency of 30MHz, the AD9144 has an adjacent-channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of 76dB in a WCDMA application with 4 carriers.

In addition, the AD9144 includes an integrated interpolation filter and selectable interpolation factors of 2x, 4x, and 8x. The dual D/A converter data interface supports word and byte loads, allowing customers to reduce the number of input pins at low data rates to save board space, power, and cost.

The AD9144 is supported by evaluation boards along with FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card) connectors, software, tools, SPI controllers, and reference designs. ADI’s Visual Analog™ software package combines powerful simulation and data analysis tools into a user-friendly graphical interface, allowing designers to customize their input signals and data analysis as desired.