The device has three supply voltages and requires seven supply domains to achieve data sheet performance as shown in Table 8-3:

The recommended power supply is shown in Figure 8-22. The power-supply voltages must be low in noise and provide the needed current to achieve rated device performance. A step down high-efficiency switching converter is used first, followed by a second stage of regulation using LDOs to provide switching noise reduction and improved voltage accuracy. The user can also refer to the TI WEBENCH® Power Designer which can be used to select and design the individual power supply elements as needed. The recommended switching regulators are:

• TPSM82913 = +2.3V for the VDDA, VDDIO, VDDCSR, VDDL and VDCCCLK domains
• TPS543620 = +1V for DVDD
• TPSM82913 = +3.8V for VEEx domain

and recommended LDOs include:

• TPS7A9401 for +1.8V and +1V
• LM27762 for -1.8V

Figure 8-22 Recommended Power Supply Block Diagram

The VDDA supply is regulated by an LDO, or low-noise drop-out linear regulator, with a +1.8V output and is further broken down into the following subgroup power domains:

• VDDA: VDDA18A, VDDA18B
• VDDIO
• VDDCSR: VDDCLK, VDDSYS, VDDR

Each device supply can be tied to a single LDO but are isolated with a ferrite bead and/or three-terminal capacitor or similar.

The VDDL supply is +1V and is further broken down into VDDLA and VDDLB. Each device supply can be tied to a single LDO but are isolated with a ferrite bead and/or three-terminal capacitor or similar.

The VDDCLK10 supply is +1V and is the most sensitive for achieving the best phase noise performance. VDDCLK10 should be isolated to a LDO by itself to prevent noise from other 1.0V supplies coupling into the clock path.

The DVDD supply is +1V and can be directly connected to a switching power supply. The DVDD encompasses the following device supplies, VDDDIG, VDDT, VDDDEA and VDDDEB, which can all be connected together. No further isolation with a ferrite bead and/or three-terminal capacitor or similar is required.

The VEEx supply is -1.8V derived from a single LDO and is further broken down into VEEAM18 and VEEBM18, which are isolated with a ferrite bead and/or three-terminal capacitor or similar.

It is also highly recommended to follow these important power supply design considerations:

1. Decouple all power supply rails and bus voltages as they come onto the system board. Further place additional decoupling at or near the DAC itself for each power domain. Typically, one decoupling capacitor per power supply pin is suffice unless specified in the data sheet or EVM assembly.
2. Remember that approximately 20dB/decade noise suppression is gained for each additional filtering stage.
3. Decouple for both high and low frequencies, which might require multiple capacitor values.
4. Series ferrite beads and feed through capacitors are commonly used at the power plain entry point and can be used for addition power domain isolation. This should be done for each individual supply voltage on the system board whether it comes from an LDO or a switching regulator.
5. For added capacitance, use tightly stacked power and ground plane pairs (≤4 mil spacing) this adds inherent high-frequency (>500MHz) decoupling to the PCB design.
6. Keep supplies away from sensitive analog circuitry such as the front-end RF stage of the DAC and high-speed clocking and digital circuits if possible.
7. Keep power domains that demand higher currents, near the top of the stack-up or layer that has power plain entry point. This minimizes the overall loop inductance.
8. Any open or voided areas on power plane, fill with ground to provide additional isolation and shielding.
9. Keep a 20 to 25 mil gap between all adjacent power and/or ground plane fills. This helps eliminate all gap coupling between adjacent power domains and/or grounds within the same layer.
10. Some switcher regulator circuitry/components could be located on the opposite side of the PCB for added isolation.
11. Follow the IC manufacture recommendations; if they are not directly stated in an application note or data sheet, then study the evaluation board. These are great vehicles to learn from. Applying these points above can help provide a solid power supply design yielding data sheet performance in many applications.

Each application has different tolerances for noise on the supply voltage, so understanding these trades is best described in the following two application notes for more details:

• Clutter-free power supplies for RF converters in radar applications (Part 1)
• Clutter-free power supplies for RF converters in radar applications (Part 2)

Also refer to Figure 8-30 through Figure 8-33 to illustrate the one power supply layout and stack-up approach.