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compared spec
Find Your Perfect Matchstiq™
Matchstiq™ Z2
Matchstiq™ Z3u
Matchstiq™ Z4
compared spec
Matchstiq™ Z2
RF COVERAGE
45 MHz to 6 GHz
BANDWIDTH
Up to 50 MHz per channel
RECEIVERS
1
TRANSMITTERS
1
INTEGRATED FPGA
AMD Zynq XC7Z010-2I System-on-Chip
FORM FACTOR
3.44” x 2.44” x 0.56”
I/O
USB 2.0 OTG interface
POWER CONSUMPTION
2.5 W (typical usage)
Matchstiq™ Z3u
RF COVERAGE
45 MHz to 6 GHz
BANDWIDTH
Up to 50 MHz per channel
RECEIVERS
Up to 2
TRANSMITTERS
1
INTEGRATED FPGA
AMD® Zynq® Ultrascale+ ZU3EG System-on-Chip
FORM FACTOR
2.64" x 3.63" x 0.81"
I/O
USB 3.0 OTG interface + GPSDO
POWER CONSUMPTION
Under 6 W (typical usage)
Matchstiq™ Z4
RF COVERAGE
10 MHz to 6 GHz
BANDWIDTH
Up to 50 MHz per channel
RECEIVERS
Up to 4
TRANSMITTERS
Up to 4
INTEGRATED FPGA
AMD® Zynq® Ultrascale+ ZU7 System-on-Chip
FORM FACTOR
6.0” x 3.5” x 1.14”
I/O
USB 3.0 OTG interfaces + GPSDO etc.
POWER CONSUMPTION
10-20 W (typical usage)
Resources
Datasheets
Epiq - datasheet - Matchstiq™ Z3u
The Matchstiq Z3u is a field-ready, complete software-defined radio (SDR) platform designed to deliver a fully integrated RF transceiver plus signal processing solution in the smallest possible form factor. Measuring just 3.64” x 2.74” x 0.75” and weighing 5.6 ounces, the Matchstiq Z3u is ideal for on-the-go signal processing applications. An integrated magnetic mount allows the platform to attach to a cell phone or other portable device, deriving power and providing communications through a single USB-C port. As a completely stand-alone platform, Matchstiq Z3u can execute signal processing applications locally on the AMD® Zynq® Ultrascale+ System on Chip (SoC), or interface to a host platform over USB 3.0 to execute applications on the host.
Application notes
Squeezing the Balloon: Effective SDR Power Budgeting to Maximize UxS Range & Cap
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) are the Swiss army knives of spectrum battlefield situational awareness. Their uses range from satellite communications (SATCOM) and signals intelligence (SIGINT), to direction finding (DF), radar, jamming and many more besides. Even small drones are upgrading capabilities from only visible spectrum cameras to much more advanced capabilities using SDRs.
UAS Trends
Recent conflicts have accelerated trends that were already underway in the Unmanned Aerial System(UAS) market. Figure 1 shows a variety of different attributes that illustrate changes in the military market. The first three relate to differences over time worldwide, with an increasing number of countries able to deploy drones, a predicted 40% increase in spending, and a rapidly growing number of patents being issued as interest in this sector is reflected in innovation (graphs a through c).
UxS Challenges, EPIQ Solutions
Expectations on UxS suppliers to innovate and evolve their platforms quickly, and to ramp to volume faster are getting higher and higher. The addition of spectral monitoring to even small platforms dramatically increases situational awareness, enabled by small and flexible Software Defined Radios (SDRs). For design teams, a frequent issue is the ‘make vs. buy’ decision for the SDR, and whether the project can afford the time or engineering bandwidth to make every piece in-house. As a leading supplier of Small Form Factor (SFF) and open architecture SDRs, Epiq obviously has strong opinions on this topic
UxS Payload Form Factors
Unmanned systems (UxS) come in many shapes and sizes, whether airborne, in the water, or land-based. Most count as SWaP-constrained systems, with care needed in design to properly budget for power, weight and available payload volumes. Other notes in this series have discussed the challenges of power budgeting for SDRs, and RF architectures that optimize SWaP. We often have less choice in the form factors we need to fit into, as these are usually set by the larger system, and the customer question will be “I have this form factor, what can you do in it?”.
Which RF Architecture Should I Choose
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) have become ubiquitous in applications that value their flexibility, reconfigurability, spectrum agility and upgradability. These include defense, public safety, wireless infrastructure, space, SATCOM, test and measurement to name a few. However, there are several common methods of implementing SDR architectures – how do you know which is best to meet a specific need?
Considerations in the Build vs Buy Decision-Making Process for SDRs
The flexibility and enhanced performance offered by software-defined radios (SDRs) in RF transceiver applications is driving an increased demand for their use across many industries such as defense, telecom, aerospace, and government.
Case studies
How TSC Adapted Epiq’s Matchstiq™ Z3u for an RF-Integrated MOD Payload
Explore how Epiq's Matchstiq™ Z3u enabled SDR-based Mod Payload for deploying advanced SIGINT, EW, and A-PNT applications. Read the case study to learn more about our collaboration with TSC, a high-tech engineering firm serving the U.S. Government, which resulted in a cutting-edge RF Mod Payload solution for USSOCOM.
Open-source repositories
Blog
Software Defined Radio Application Highlight: Smartphone Extension
Combining RF scanning capabilities in one SDR while maintaining 5G connectivity with a smartphone allows users to quickly understand the RF environment around them.
Software Defined Radios – Which RF Architecture Should I Choose?
Choosing the right RF architecture is critical for SDR performance. From Superheterodyne to Direct Sampling, each offers unique trade-offs in size, power, and capability. Discover which architecture best fits your mission needs—register now to access the full article.
User Manuals
Sidekiq Software Development Manual
A Sidekiq system consists of a Sidekiq miniPCIe, m.2, or FMC card inserted into a Linux or Windows host platform supporting the Sidekiq form factor. Additionally, the Sidekiq Z2 consists of a Zynq 7010, which is a self contained embedded ARM processor running Linux and Xilinx FPGA in the mPCIe form factor. The Matchstiq Z3u is a fully housed software defined radio consisting of the Zynq Ultrascale+, running Linux and Xilinx FPGA, a wideband transceiver, and an integrated GPS.
Sidekiq Z2 FPGA Developers Manual
The Sidekiq and Matchstiq Platform Development Kit (PDK) provides the ability for users to create their own custom applications. This can be accomplished by customizing software or the RTL code that configures the FPGA. This manual gives an overview of the FPGA reference design, with the intention of empowering the user to build upon the design to create custom applications.
Epiq Solutions Matchstiq Z3u Getting Started Guide
The Matchstiq Z3u can be powered up via either the USB3 interface or the 7-17VDC input. The Matchstiq Z3u can be used by either running Sidekiq applications on a host system and running in a standalone system running Sidekiq applications directly on the Z3u.
Epiq Solutions Matchstiq Z3u Hardware User Manual
Matchstiq Z3u is a small form factor software defined radio system that provides a wideband RF transceiver plus a Linux computer. With the integrated Linux computer, Matchstiq Z3u is targeted for applications where the necessary signal/protocol processing tasks can execute standalone, without the necessity of a host computer platform. Alternately, Matchstiq Z3u can be interfaced with a host system (PC running Linux / Windows / MacOS or Android device), where supplemental processing and control of the Matchstiq Z3u could take place on the host system. Whether running in a standalone configuration or with a host device, all configuration and streaming of the Matchstiq Z3u is completed within the libsidekiq software API.