aex is in design. Values marked TARGET are design goals from cascade simulation (ADIsimRF), not measured data.
01Simplified block diagram
One board shown. A second aex on the same motherboard shares LO1/LO2 and the cal tone for four phase-coherent channels.
02Built for
- Detection and direction finding of drone control and video links: 433, 868/915 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz and beyond
- Spectrum monitoring in dense, high-power RF environments
- Four-channel coherent arrays with on-board phase calibration
- Edge processing on aez20: results over the network instead of raw samples
03Key features
- Coverage from 1 MHz: direct sampling, 20–300 MHz up-conversion, 0.3–6 GHz down-conversion
- 8-band preselector and dual conversion for strong-signal rejection
- Switchable LNA (Qorvo QPL9547, 0.1–6 GHz) and RF attenuator; IF gain control in 0.5 dB steps
- DF mode (2 channels per board) or wideband I/Q mode (1 channel)
- Shared TX/RX antenna port; the transmitter doubles as calibration source
04Specifications
| Parameter | on ASR34 | on aes |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency range | 1 MHz – 6 GHz, RX and TX | |
| RX channels | 2 coherent per board, 4 per system | |
| Bandwidth, DF mode | 25 MHz per channel | 40 MHz per channel |
| Bandwidth, wideband mode | 50 MHz, 1 channel | 80 MHz, 1 channel |
| LNA | Qorvo QPL9547, 0.1–6 GHz ultra-low-noise, with bypass | |
| Noise figure, 0.3–6 GHz | ≤ 5 dBTARGET | |
| Input IP3 | ≥ −6 dBm max gain; ≥ +10 dBm LNA bypassedTARGET | |
| TX output | ≥ +5 dBm; +20 dBm PA optionTARGET | |
| Coherence | Shared LO1/LO2 across boards; TX cal tone to all RX inputs | |
| Hosts | ASR34 (2 × AD9862), aes (2 × AD9963) | |
05Compared with integrated transceivers
| Parameter | AD9361 class | aex |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest frequency | 70 MHz | 1 MHz |
| Input IP3, max gain | −14 to −18 dBm | ≥ −6 dBmTARGET |
| Preselection | none on chip | 8 bands |
| Coherent RX channels | 2 | 4 |
| Bandwidth | 56 MHz | 50 MHz (ASR34) / 80 MHz (aes) |
06Contact
Evaluation and integration enquiries: info@a2e.tech
aex is a product of A2E Tech Limited (aegisel), Edinburgh, UK. AD9361 figures from the ADI data sheet.
Second revision: aex2.
Specifications subject to change without notice. Rev 0.1, 7 October 2026.