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High-Speed, Low-Power ADC for Digital Beam Forming (DBF) Systems

Award Information
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Branch: N/A
Contract: NNX10CD96P
Agency Tracking Number: 094089
Amount: $99,927.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: S1.02
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2009
Award Year: 2010
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2010-01-29
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2010-07-29
Small Business Information
6595 North Oracle Road
Tucson, AZ 85704-5645
United States
DUNS: 157955597
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: Yes
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Justin Judkins
 Principal Investigator
 (520) 742-3300
 justin.judkins@ridgetopgroup.com
Business Contact
 Milena Thompson
Title: Business Official
Phone: (520) 742-3300
Email: milena@ridgetop-group.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Ridgetop Group will design a high-speed, low-power silicon germanium (SiGe)-based, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be a key element for digital beam forming (DBF) systems that are used in NASA's future radar missions. The ADC will employ a novel combination of time interleaving, high-speed bipolar technology and low-power techniques, such as the double-sampling technique, providing exceptional sampling speed of 500 MSPS,12 bits of resolution and very low, 100mW power dissipation.
Ordinarily, ADC design requires large trade-offs in speed, resolution, and power consumption. The significance of this innovation is that it simultaneously provides a high-speed, high-resolution, and low-power ADC that is well ahead of the state-of-the-art. These three characteristics are needed for DBF systems that contain large ADC arrays. The power consumption of existing ADC chips prohibits implementation of large DBF arrays in space. Ridgetop's innovative design leverages newer semiconductor process technologies that combine silicon and germanium into a compound semiconductor.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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