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DAC38RF80: interanl PLL using LMK04828 as reference vs PLL bypassed using LMX2592 and LMK04828

Part Number: DAC38RF80
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: LMK04828, , LMX2582, LMX2592

Hi,

We are using three DAC38RF80 in our design. For clocking we are using LMK04828 ,LMX2582/92 and HMC987. 

Clock tree is shown below:

One output of LMK04828 is connected to refclk input of LMX2582/92. Channel A of LMX is connected to buffer HMC987 which buffers the input and then three output of HMC987 is connected to DACCLK inputs of three DACs.

SYSREF clock for synchronization is provided by LMK04828. 

Although DAC has internal PLL and we can directly fed the DACCLK inputs of three DACs from LMK04828 as shown below, but it is written in the datasheet of DAC38RF80 that for best performance of DAC38RF80 use DAC in PLL bypass mode: 

So my question is:

1. Which configuration from the above two block diagram will give the best performance both in case of noise and synchronization? We will be using the DAC at maximum sampling frequency 9GSPS.

2. Will there be any difference in DAC performance when we use internal PLL of DAC using LMK04828 output as reference for DAC PLL vs using DAC in PLL bypass mode and use LMX2592 output as sampling clock for DACs. LMX2592 itself receives its reference from LMK04828. 

An early response will be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lalit

  • Hi Guys,

    Can you please update on this?

    Actually we want to finalize the Clock Tree as early possible so that we can expedite the schematic.

    Thanks,

    Lalit

  • Hi TI,

    Please update on this. This is very important for us.

    Thanks,

    Lalit

  • Hi Lalit,

    Whether to use external clock (or not) will depend on the requirements of your application.

    Normally, external clock is recommended for applications that require very low phase noise that cannot be met with the internal PLL. Especially at lower frequency offsets from the carrier frequency, the phase noise can violate some spectral emission mask specifications. 

    You can refer to figure 41 for the Phase Noise performance of the DAC and compare this with the LMX device and your own system requirements.

    Thanks,

    Eben.