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AFE7950EVM: Main DAC clock spur stronger than expected

Part Number: AFE7950EVM

Hello,

I am using the AFE7950EVM PCB RevA DC135 in conjunction with Latte.

The board has been configured using the pasted automation and bringup files, included below. 

The DAC clock is 8844Msps and I have configured it to produce a 2GHz tone.

The spectrum analyzer output is in the image below. The clock spur is visible on marker 3, as is the tone on marker 1.

The DAC is producing 2nd order intermodulation products at f3-f1 = 6.8G (marker 2) and f1+f3 = 10.8G (marker 4). 

The spur is much higher than expected based on the datasheet.

Is there anything that I might be doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

Best Regards

Khusro Saleem

Spectrum analyzer output

AFE79xx/Automation/script.py

#setupParams.skipFpga = 1
mainWindow.clearSession()

## Note : below base_directory needs to be modified per user's environment. 
base_directory = "C:\\Users\\User\\Documents\\Texas Instruments\\Latte\\projects\\AFE79xx\\"

'''************INITIALIZATION**********************'''
mainWindow.runFile(base_directory + r"bringup\setup.py")
mainWindow.runFile(base_directory + r"bringup\devInit.py")

'''************RUN BASICBRINGUP.PY**********************'''
mainWindow.runFile(base_directory + r"bringup\script11.py")

AFE79xx/bringup/script.py

'''
Validation :  AFE79xx Library Version 
				v1.67, v1.74
Case			RX					TX						   FB						CLK					Notes
----	-----------------	  -----------------			-----------------			-----------			------------
1		245.76Msps, 24410     491.52Msps, 44210			491.52Msps, 22210			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in interleaved mode
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=8847.36M
		NCO=3500M		      NCO=3500M			        NCO=3500M                   REF=491.52M
		
2		245.76Msps, 24410     491.52Msps, 44210			491.52Msps, 22210			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in straight mode
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=8847.36M
		NCO=3500M		      NCO=3500M			        NCO=3500M                   REF=491.52M
		
3		122.88Msps, 14810     245.76Msps, 24410			245.76Msps, 24410			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in straight mode
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=8847.36M
		NCO=3500M		      NCO=3500M			        NCO=3500M                   REF=491.52M

4		122.88Msps, 14810     245.76Msps, 24410			245.76Msps, 24410			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in interleave mode
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=8847.36M
		NCO=3500M		      NCO=3500M			        NCO=3500M                   REF=491.52M

5		245.76Msps, 24410     245.76Msps, 24410			245.76Msps, 24410			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in straight mode.
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=8847.36M       AFE79xx set up in repeater mode.
		NCO=3500M		      NCO=3500M			        NCO=3500M                   REF=491.52M         No FPGA/ASIC necessary.

6		245.76Msps, 24410     491.52Msps, 44210			491.52Msps, 22210			FADC=2949.12M       DAC in straight mode
		SerDes=9830.4Mbps     SerDes=9830.4Mbps			SerDes=9830.4Mbps			FDAC=5898.24M
		NCO=750M		      NCO=750M			        NCO=750M                    REF=491.52M
		
'''
setupParams.skipFpga 				= 1
sysParams							= AFE.systemParams
setupParams.fpgaRefClk 				= 245.76	
AFE.systemStatus.loadTrims			= 1

sysParams.FRef                    	= 491.52
sysParams.FadcRx                  	= 2949.12
sysParams.FadcFb				  	= 2949.12
sysParams.Fdac                    	= 2949.12*3

sysParams.enableDacInterleavedMode	= False 					#DAC interleave mode to save power consumption. Fs/2 - Fin spur occurs

sysParams.modeTdd 					= 0		
										# 0- Single TDD Pin for all Channels
										# 1- Separate Control for 2T/2R/1F
										# 2- Separate Control for 1T/1R/1F	
										
sysParams.topLevelSystemMode		= 'StaticTDDMode'
sysParams.RRFMode 					= 0   #4T4R2F FDD mode
sysParams.jesdSystemMode			= [1,1]
										#SystemMode 0:	2R1F-FDD						; rx1-rx2-fb-fb
										#SystemMode 1:	1R1F-FDD						; rx1-rx1-fb-fb
										#SystemMode 2:	2R-FDD							; rx1-rx1-rx2-rx2
										#SystemMode 3:	1R								; rx1-rx1-rx1-rx1
										#SystemMode 4:	1F								; fb-fb-fb-fb
										#SystemMode 5:	1R1F-TDD						; rx1/fb-rx1/fb-rx1/fb-rx1/fb
										#SystemMode 8:	1R1F-TDD 1R-FDD	(FB-2Lanes)(RX1 RX2 interchanged)		; rx2/fb-rx2/fb-rx1-rx1
										

sysParams.jesdLoopbackEn			= 0 	#Make it 1 to Enable the JESDTX to JESDRX internal loopback
sysParams.LMFSHdRx                	= ['24410', '24410', '24410', '24410']	
										# The 2nd and 4th are valid only for jesdSystemMode values in (2,6,7,8). For other modes, select 4 converter modes for 1st and 3rd.
sysParams.LMFSHdFb                	= ["24410","24410"]
sysParams.LMFSHdTx                	= ["24410","24410","24410","24410"]

sysParams.jesdTxProtocol            = [0,0]
sysParams.jesdRxProtocol            = [0,0]
sysParams.serdesFirmware			= True 		# If you want to lead any firmware, please speify the path here. Otherwise it will not write any firmware
sysParams.jesdTxLaneMux				= [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
												# Enter which lanes you want in each location. 
												# Note that across 2T Mux is not possible in 0.5.
												# For example, if you want to exchange the first two lines of each 2T, this should be [[1,0,2,3],[5,4,6,7]]
sysParams.jesdRxLaneMux				= [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7]	
												# Enter which lanes you want in each location.
												# Note that across 2R Mux is not possible in 0.5.
												# For example, if you want to exchange the first two lines of each 2R, this should be [[1,0,2,3],[5,4,6,7]]
												
sysParams.jesdRxRbd					= [4, 4]

sysParams.rxJesdTxScr				= [True,True,True,True]
sysParams.fbJesdTxScr				= [True,True]
sysParams.jesdRxScr					= [True,True,True,True]

sysParams.rxJesdTxK					= [16,16,16,16]
sysParams.fbJesdTxK					= [16,16,16,16]
sysParams.jesdRxK					= [16,16,16,16]

sysParams.ncoFreqMode 				= "1KHz"
	
sysParams.txNco0					= 	[[1000,0],		#Band0, Band1 for TxA for NCO0
										[2000,0],        #Band0, Band1 for TxB for NCO0
										[3500,0],        #Band0, Band1 for TxC for NCO0
										[3500,0]]        #Band0, Band1 for TxD for NCO0

sysParams.rxNco0					= 	[[3500,2600],		#Band0, Band1 for RxA for NCO0
										[3500,2600],        #Band0, Band1 for RxB for NCO0
										[3500,2600],        #Band0, Band1 for RxC for NCO0
										[3500,2600]]        #Band0, Band1 for RxD for NCO0

sysParams.fbNco0					= 	[3500,3500]			#FBA, FBC for NCO0
sysParams.fbNco1					= 	[3500,3500]			#FBA, FBC for NCO1
sysParams.fbNco2					= 	[3500,3500]			#FBA, FBC for NCO2
sysParams.fbNco3					= 	[3500,3500]			#FBA, FBC for NCO3



sysParams.numBandsRx				= [0]*4					# 0 for single, 1 for dual
sysParams.numBandsFb				= [0,0]				
sysParams.numBandsTx				= [0]*4


sysParams.ddcFactorRx             	= [12,12,12,12]
sysParams.ddcFactorFb             	= [12,12]
sysParams.ducFactorTx             	= [36,36,36,36]

AFE.systemStatus.loadTrims			=1

## The following parameters sets up the LMK04828 clocking schemes
lmkParams.pllEn						=	True  #False
lmkParams.inputClk					=	1474.56  #737.28
lmkParams.lmkFrefClk				=	True

## The following parameters sets up the register and macro dumps
logDumpInst.setFileName(ASTERIX_DIR+DEVICES_DIR+r"\Afe79xxPg1.txt")
logDumpInst.logFormat				= 0x01
logDumpInst.rewriteFile				= 1
logDumpInst.rewriteFileFormat4		= 1
device.optimizeWrites				= 0
device.rawWriteLogEn				= 1

## The following parameters sets up the SYNCIN and SYNCOUT to interface with the TSW14J57
sysParams.jesdABLvdsSync			= 1
sysParams.jesdCDLvdsSync			= 1
sysParams.rxJesdTxSyncMux			= [0,0,0,0]
sysParams.fbJesdTxSyncMux			= [0,0]
sysParams.jesdRxSyncMux				= [0,0,0,0]		#[0,0,1,1]
sysParams.syncLoopBack				= False


#sysParams.defaultTxDsa = [0,0,0,0]
#sysParams.txEnable = [False, True, False, False]
#sysParams.rxEnable = [False, False, False, False]
#sysParams.fbEnable = [False, False]


# ## The following parameters sets up the AGC
# sysParams.agcParams[0].agcMode = 1 ##internal AGC
# sysParams.agcParams[0].gpioRstEnable = 0 ##disable GPIO based reset to AGC detector 
# sysParams.agcParams[0].atken = [0, 1, 0] ##enable big and small step attack
# sysParams.agcParams[0].decayen = [0,1,0] ##enable big and small step decay
# sysParams.agcParams[0].atksize = [2,1,0] ## bigs step = 2dB, small step = 1dB
# sysParams.agcParams[0].decaysize = [2,1,0] ##big step = 2dB, small step = 1dB
# sysParams.agcParams[0].atkthreshold = [-1, -2, -14] ##attack threshold
# sysParams.agcParams[0].decaythreshold = [-14, -6, -20] ##decay threshold
# sysParams.agcParams[0].atkwinlength = [170, 170] ## detector time constant expressed inn absolute time in ns. 
# sysParams.agcParams[0].decaywinlength = 87380 ##detector time constant expressed in absolute time in ns. All detectors use the same value for decay time constant
# sysParams.agcParams[0].atkNumHitsAbs = [8,8] ##absolute number of times signal crosses threshold. These crossing are with respect to the FADC/8 clock
# sysParams.agcParams[0].decayNumHitsAbs = [100,100] ##absolute number of times signal crosses threshold. These crossing are with respect to the FADC/8 clock
# sysParams.agcParams[0].minDsaAttn = 0 ##minimum DSA attenuation used by AGC
# sysParams.agcParams[0].maxDsaAttn = 22 ##maximum DSA attenuation used by AGC
# sysParams.agcParams[0].totalGainRange = 22 ##total gain range used by ALC for gain compensation
# sysParams.agcParams[0].minAttnAlc = 0 ##minimum attenuation used by ALC for compensation when useMinAttnAgc = 0
# sysParams.agcParams[0].useMinAttnAgc = 1 ##enable ALC to use minimum attenuation from AGC for which compensation is required.
# sysParams.agcParams[0].alcEn = 1
# sysParams.agcParams[0].alcMode = 0 ##floating point DGC
# sysParams.agcParams[0].fltPtMode = 0 ##if exponent > 0, dont send MSB
# sysParams.agcParams[0].fltPtFmt = 1 ##3 bit exponent


## The following parameters sets up the GPIOs
sysParams.gpioMapping={
		'H8': 'ADC_SYNC0',
		'H7': 'ADC_SYNC1',
		'N8': 'ADC_SYNC2',
		'N7': 'ADC_SYNC3',
		'H9': 'DAC_SYNC0',
		'G9': 'DAC_SYNC1',
		'N9': 'DAC_SYNC2',
		'P9': 'DAC_SYNC3',
		'P14': 'GLOBAL_PDN',
		'K14': 'FBABTDD',
		'R6': 'FBCDTDD',
		'H15': ['TXATDD','TXBTDD'],
		'V5': ['TXCTDD','TXDTDD'],
		'E7': ['RXATDD','RXBTDD'],
		'R15': ['RXCTDD','RXDTDD']}
        
device.delay_time = 0
## Initiates LMK04828 and AFE79xx Bring-up
AFE.deviceBringup()

AFE.TOP.overrideTdd(15,3,15)
#AFE.adcDacSync()
#AFE.LMK.lmkSysrefEn(1)
#AFE.LMK.lmkSysrefEn(0)
#AFE.JESD.SUBCHIP.toggleSync()

for i in [0,1]:
	for j in [0,1]:
		AFE.JESD.DACJESD[i].dacJesdConstantTestPatternValue(1,j,0,16384,0) # enable, channelNum, bandNum, Ival, Qval