Hi - I'm trying to do something that may be... odd. I'm working on a logic analyzerish sort of project. I'd like to have 4 sets of 8 inputs. Each set would be completely isolated (say 500V isolation, though I could be convinced to go lower if needs be). I would think my max VIn would be about 5V or so. I would like to have pretty good control over what constitutes a low and high signal (as this would be used on many different systems with different voltage levels). Ideally I'd like to be able to be able to set the input low voltage or the input high voltage, and also set the hysteresis. I'd want these settings to be the same for all 8 inputs, but individually configurable for the 4 different sets. Everything will be getting controlled by an FPGA. So - this is how I'm imagining each set of 8 inputs:
Ideally, I'd find an octal comparator that had an adjustable hysteresis. I'd wire all of the inverting inputs together. I'd have a DAC with two outputs - one to the hysteresis pin, the other to the inverting inputs of the comparators. Then - if I wanted to set VIL I'd program in that voltage into the DAC and presto - it'd work. If I wanted to set the VIH I'd program in that voltage into the DAC and it'd work, but the output would be inverted (which would obviously be easy to correct for in the FPGA). This all seems fairly simple to me - though I'm sure I'm forgetting all sorts of important things. Like I wonder if any comparators like what I'm looking for even exist... Haven't found one yet - but I bet it's out there.
So - then I'd just have a bunch of digital inputs and outputs for this set of inputs. Getting isolated power to it isn't too bad - but what about getting the digital signals isolated? I'm hoping to hit 100MHz+ bandwidth. Ideally faster - but 100MHz I would be pleased with. The DAC signals will be plenty slow (I don't plan on changing them often)
- but the comparator outputs - those are the ones I'm worried about. A quick search on Digi-Key finds the fastest opto-couplers to be 50MHz. I'd ideally also like to keep size and cost down as much as possible. Size moreso than cost. I think I'd be looking at probably somewhere along the lines of 12 isolated signals/channel (the 8 inputs + 4 for the SPI DAC, assuming I use an SPI DAC) - so finding small optos would be awesome.
Is there a nice way around this problem? Does it sound like I'm attacking this from the right angle? Or am I completely off?
Thanks!
-Michael