Launch of RFSoC Product Family for Cable Remote PHY and Radar

Xilinx announced the launch of the Zynq® UltraScale+™ RFSoC product family, an innovative architecture that integrates RF signal chains into SoCs for 5G wireless, cable remote-PHY, and radar applications.

The fully programmable RFSoC based on a 16-nanometer UltraScale+ MPSoC architecture integrates RF data converters capable of reducing system power and size by up to 50-75%, and also integrates SD-FEC (soft-decision Forward Error Correction) that meets 5G and DOCSIS 3.1 standards as a single unit. Silicon samples are currently being provided to various customers, and an Early access program for the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC product family is also available.

The Zynq RFSoC combines RF data converters and SD-FEC cores with high-performance 16-nanometer UltraScale+ programmable logic and ARM multiprocessing systems, enabling the construction of an integrated signal chain from analog to digital.

Applications implemented with the Zynq RFSoC product family include remote radio heads for massive-MIMO, millimeter-wave mobile backhaul, 5G baseband, fixed wireless access, remote-PHY nodes for cable, electronic warfare/radar, test and measurement, SATCOM, Milcom/Airborne radio, and other high-performance RF applications.

The Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC devices currently enable the most bandwidth-intensive systems for next-generation wireless infrastructure. 5G essentials—reaching 5 times bandwidth, 100 times faster user data rates, and 1,000 times greater network capacity—cannot be achieved without revolutionary changes at the system level.

By integrating discrete RF data converters and signal chain optimization into the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC, remote radio heads for massive-MIMO, wireless backhaul, and fixed wireless access achieve 50-75% reductions in power and size, realizing high channel density. Multiple integrated SD-FEC cores enable soft-core execution for 5G baseband within strict power consumption and thermal limits, with system throughput increasing by 10-20 times.

The Zynq RFSoC also drives remote-PHY systems in next-generation cable broadband services, combining compact form factor, power efficiency, and hardware flexibility. The distributed access architecture pushes DOCSIS 3.x PHY functions of centralized headend equipment to remote-PHY nodes located closer to consumers. By replacing inefficient analog optical transmission with ubiquitous Ethernet transmission, network capacity, scalability, and performance have been improved. RFSoC with RF integration and LDPC FEC-driven signal chains ensures flexible R-PHY deployment to enhance spectrum efficiency as specified in DOCSIS 3.1.