September 14, 2023
Wieserlabs would like to thank Bodo Kaiser from the University of Munich (LMU) for publishing his command line interface to the FlexDDS on GitHub: github.com/rydyb/flexdds.
FlexDDS-NG is a multi-channel phase continuous direct digital signal synthesizer (DDS). Based on the successful design of the FlexDDS multi-channel Radio Frequency source developed for the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, FlexDDS-NG is the next generation waveform generator which directly addresses the needs of experimental physicists.
The FlexDDS-NG mainframe integrates a powerful dual-core 900 MHz ARM computer with 1 GByte of RAM running embedded Linux. More than 500 MBytes of instructions for the waveform generator slots can be stored inside the rack acting like a vast FIFO storage. For more demaning applications or to free up the load from lab control computers, you can run your own programs on the FlexDDS-NG's integrated computer. In contrast to the legacy FlexDDS, the FlexDDS-NG features a high speed GBit Ethernet interface (instead of USB) which eliminates all operating system driver issues. It also allows to control the FlexDDS-NG from any computer — and even to control multiple channels from different computers.
Up to 6 independent but fully synchronized Radio Frequency generator slots can be inserted into the FlexDDS-NG mainframe. This enables up to 12 RF output channels when fully equipped with FlexDDS-NG-1GS RF generator slots. From a network perspective, each slot corresponds to its own network port, so they can be controlled both independently or simultaneously. Each slot has its own digital trigger and synchronization I/Os. In addition, the mainframe provides global trigger inputs allowing to synchronize multiple slots.
