Abaco Systems ICS-1650/001 PCI Express X4 High-Speed 4-Channel ADC with User-Programmable Virtex-5 FPGA

The Abaco Systems ICS-1650/001 is a PCI Express x4 high-speed analog-to-digital converter card engineered for advanced signal processing and data acquisition. It delivers four simultaneous 12-bit analog input channels at up to 250 MHz per channel, supporting continuous data acquisition exceeding 200 MHz across all channels. The PCIe x4 interface provides net payload throughput of 1.25 GBytes/sec, matched to modern multi-core CPU architectures.

On-board processing is delivered by a user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T FPGA dedicated to signal processing, complemented by a Xilinx Virtex-5 LX50T control FPGA. This dual-FPGA architecture allows the primary processor to focus almost entirely on customer application code. The card includes 16 MBytes of QDR II SRAM for buffering and workspace.

Up to four ICS-1650 cards can be synchronized for applications requiring higher channel density.

Technical Specifications

• Analog Input Channels: 4


• Resolution: 12-bit


• Maximum Sampling Rate: 250 MHz per channel (simultaneous)


• Input Configuration: Transformer-coupled, 50 Ω impedance


• SINAD: 62 dB


• SFDR: 76 dB


• Signal Processing FPGA: Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T (user-programmable)


• Control FPGA: Xilinx Virtex-5 LX50T


• On-Board Memory: 16 MBytes QDR II SRAM


• Bus Interface: PCI Express x4


• Data Rate: 1.25 GBytes/sec net payload

Key Features

• Transformer-coupled 50 Ω analog inputs with 12-bit resolution


• Simultaneous 250 MHz sampling across all four channels


• Dual Virtex-5 FPGA architecture optimized for DSP workloads


• QDR II SRAM for real-time buffering and intermediate processing


• Multi-card synchronization (up to four units)


• Micro ATX form factor compatibility

Typical Applications

• Software Defined Radio (SDR)


• Diagnostic and medical imaging


• Radar signal processing


• Signal intelligence and monitoring

Compatibility & Integration Hardware Development Kit (HDK) based on Xilinx ISE toolset supports FPGA design and DSP development. Software Development Kits (SDKs) are provided for Windows and Linux environments. The compact form factor integrates into small form factor motherboards including Micro ATX systems.