Linear Technology Corporation introduces demonstration circuit 2459A, featuring the LTC1668, 50Msps, 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC). This high-performance DAC is very popular in applications with analog frequency content between the audio range and several megahertz.

DC2459A is a complete redesign of the original demonstration circuit. Several signal conditioning options are available for the analog output, and digital signals may be provided by one of several low-cost, easy to use FPGA development boards. Example FPGA code is provided, which produces digital sine wave data for the DAC.

Demonstration boards for semiconductor products enable synergy between the “Maker” community and production designs. A 50Msps DAC requires a carefully laid out board, and a digital signal source to go with it. A benchtop digital pattern generator is the tool of choice, but is an expensive proposition if you don’t own one and you just need to evaluate a DAC. Fortunately, there are a number of boards from the Maker community that provide just the right mix of capability, ease of use and low cost. Boards such as DC2459A provide Makers with access to true high-performance devices, example code, and a well laid out PC board for projects and prototyping.

One of the digital connectors on DC2459A is directly compatible with the popular “Mojo” Spartan 6 FPGA board from Embedded Micro. The Mojo also features an onboard ATmega32U4 processor with Arduino bootloader, providing options for controlling the LTC1668, or leveraging Linduino^® code to add additional analog and mixed-signal functionality.