- #1
cis-ddp
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Hi Physics Forums,
I'm a biochemist whose electronics experience is limited to resonant RLC circuits. I have been tasked with building a device that essentially acts as an RF antenna. In transmit mode, this device must create a sine wave of specific frequency (current plan is 40.05 MHz), convert it to analog, and transmit it to a resonant RLC circuit with sub-ms timing resolution. The device must then use the RLC circuit to listen to an exponentially-decaying sinusoid response signal of similar frequency, amplify the signal, convert to digital, split the signal into quadrature phase waveforms, and output the data to a computer.
So far, I have determined that I will need a DDS to create the initial waveform, DAC to transmit to the RLC circuit, LNA, ADC, quadrature circuit (directional coupler, mixers connected to DDS) to separate the phases, and I/O board to a computer.
Question #1: Given that the device should operate using a preprogrammed sequence so that users can just push 'start' to use, which controller would be most appropriate for the device? I have seen similar devices use FPGAs, but would a microcontroller be easier to use? Do you have a favorite brand or product that you would recommend?
Question #2: As I look for commercial products of the above components, what compatibility issues should I keep in mind? I'm not entirely familiar with the ramifications of choosing particular clock frequencies, operating voltages, or memory.
Question #3: Which tutorials/references would you recommend as being particularly useful in this application? Google has been super helpful with generally understanding the components alone, but I would really like to learn how they behave when connected.
Thank you very much for your help!
I'm a biochemist whose electronics experience is limited to resonant RLC circuits. I have been tasked with building a device that essentially acts as an RF antenna. In transmit mode, this device must create a sine wave of specific frequency (current plan is 40.05 MHz), convert it to analog, and transmit it to a resonant RLC circuit with sub-ms timing resolution. The device must then use the RLC circuit to listen to an exponentially-decaying sinusoid response signal of similar frequency, amplify the signal, convert to digital, split the signal into quadrature phase waveforms, and output the data to a computer.
So far, I have determined that I will need a DDS to create the initial waveform, DAC to transmit to the RLC circuit, LNA, ADC, quadrature circuit (directional coupler, mixers connected to DDS) to separate the phases, and I/O board to a computer.
Question #1: Given that the device should operate using a preprogrammed sequence so that users can just push 'start' to use, which controller would be most appropriate for the device? I have seen similar devices use FPGAs, but would a microcontroller be easier to use? Do you have a favorite brand or product that you would recommend?
Question #2: As I look for commercial products of the above components, what compatibility issues should I keep in mind? I'm not entirely familiar with the ramifications of choosing particular clock frequencies, operating voltages, or memory.
Question #3: Which tutorials/references would you recommend as being particularly useful in this application? Google has been super helpful with generally understanding the components alone, but I would really like to learn how they behave when connected.
Thank you very much for your help!