Configurable logic for digital communications: it´s about time

FPGAs can provide high-performance and flexible solutions to demanding signal processing applications. While many direct or obvious solutions exist for realizing certain FPGA DSP systems, access to a broad range of algorithmic options can often result in more efficient implementations. This paper describes the FPGA realization of a digital down-converter (DDC) that is suitable for software defined radios, modems, and spectrum management applications. Using a combination of noise-shaping techniques, distributed arithmetic, polyphase filters and CORDIC processing, a novel and area efficient DDC is demonstrated.