The rapid advancement of Radio Frequency System-onChip (RFSoC) technology from Xilinx (AMD) has enabled the integration of high-speed data converters and programmable logic within a single package. RFSoC platforms are already widely adopted in telecommunications, radar, and satellite communications, where they promise reductions in system footprint and power consumption. However, their suitability for Low-Level RF (LLRF) control systems in accelerator environments - where stability requirements are critical - has not been quantitatively evaluated. This paper presents a comparative measurement-based assessment of RFSoC-based and conventional LLRF designs, focusing on signal fidelity, phase noise, latency, system complexity, and integration challenges. The advantages and challenges of adopting RFSoC-based direct conversion architectures are discussed, providing guidance for future LLRF system implementations.
@article{arxiv.2510.13711,
title = {Comparative Evaluation of Xilinx RFSoC Platform for Low-Level RF Systems},
author = {Shreeharshini Dharanesh Murthy and Victoria Moore and Qiang Du and Angel Jurado and Michael Chin and Keith Penney and David Nett and Benjamin Flugstad},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.13711},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Poster presented at LLRF Workshop 2025 (LLRF2025, arXiv: 2510.07603)