High‑speed ADC hits Ka/Ku bands
CEC unveiled a 10‑bit, 128‑GSPS analog‑to‑digital converter implemented in 28 nm CMOS that supports frequencies at or above 37 GHz, targeting Ka/Ku‑band satcom, radar, EW and aerospace applications. That opens higher‑bandwidth front‑end options for systems needing wide instantaneous bandwidths and fast signal processing. (x.com)
An analog signal is a smooth wave, like a singer’s voice or a radar echo, and a chip has to turn that wave into a stream of numbers before software can do anything with it. That chip is called an analog-to-digital converter, and every extra bit and every extra sample per second makes the digital copy closer to the original wave. (ti.com) The hard part is speed. If the wave is moving at tens of billions of cycles per second, the converter has to grab snapshots so fast that even tiny timing errors blur the result, which is why ultra-fast converters usually give up either resolution or bandwidth. (eecs.berkeley.edu) Radio systems usually dodge that problem by first shifting a high-frequency signal down to a lower frequency with mixers and local oscillators. That adds more parts, more calibration, and more places for noise and distortion to creep in. (teledyne.com) The bands involved here sit high in the microwave range. Ku band runs from 12 to 18 gigahertz, and Ka band runs from 26.5 to 40 gigahertz, which is where satellite links, radar, and other wide-pipe radio systems chase more capacity. (everythingrf.com) That is why a converter that can sample radio directly is such a big engineering target. If the chip itself can ingest a signal up to 37 gigahertz, a designer can skip chunks of the analog front end and hand more of the job to digital processing instead. (news.qq.com) The new part was disclosed by Chengdu Huaw Microelectronics on March 10, 2026, in a Shanghai Stock Exchange filing. The company said its CSD10B128GA1 converter delivers 10-bit resolution, a top sampling rate of 128 gigasamples per second, and 37 gigahertz of input bandwidth on a 28 nanometer complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process. (sse.com.cn) A sampling rate of 128 gigasamples per second means the chip takes 128 billion measurements every second. That is fast enough for direct radio-frequency sampling across Ku band and into Ka band, instead of first translating the signal down to an easier band. (news.qq.com) The company also gave the quality numbers that decide whether those measurements are useful. It said the chip reaches 43 decibels of signal-to-noise ratio, 53 decibels of spurious-free dynamic range, and noise spectral density at or below minus 150 decibels relative to full scale per hertz. (news.qq.com) Those specs point straight at systems that care about wide instantaneous bandwidth. Chengdu Huaw named inter-satellite links, radar detection, electronic suppression, aerospace telemetry, commercial space, and high-end test instruments as target uses. (finance.sina.com.cn) There is also a supply-chain angle to this launch. Chengdu Huaw said the chip was designed in-house and fabricated and packaged with domestic suppliers, and outside coverage tied that push to China’s effort to replace imported high-end analog and mixed-signal parts under tighter export controls. (news.qq.com) (chinadailybrief.com) This does not mean every radio suddenly becomes simpler. High-frequency systems still need careful clocks, packaging, heat control, and digital back-end processing, but a converter that reaches 37 gigahertz moves the cut line between analog hardware and software much closer to the antenna. (eecs.berkeley.edu) (news.qq.com)
