Read non conventional ADC with STM32F3

Question

I'm attempting to interface an STM32F303 Nucleo with an AD7748-4 ADC. Datasheet for the ADC:

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/ad7768-7768-4.pdf

The issue is, the ADC DOES NOT output the converted value through the SPI port, but rather employs a Data Ready Signal (DRDY), a Data Clock (DCLK), and a combination of 4 Data Outputs (DOUT0-DOUT3). The output streams 96 bits serially through one wire if I set it up that way, but timing is critical in my application and I need to clock the data in using DOUT0 to DOUT2, which would each output 32 bits. If I were serially streaming the data, I could trick the SPI port into reading it, but I'm not. The ADC is running at 20MHz, so DCLK will be operating at the same frequency. The Nucleo runs at a maximum of 72MHz, but when the DAM is utilized, it sets the clock to 64MHz.

In the STM manual, it describes a "GPIO port input data register (GPIOx_IDR) (x = A..H)" as being a read only register - my understanding is that the lower 16 bits can store an inputted value up to 16 bits (most likely for memory data R/W) - so the question is, how can I configure the GPIO to read in the data? I'm at a slight impass here. My instinct tells me that the Nucleo may not be fast enough to read the data coming from the ADC... Any ideas? All being written in C/C++ basically bare metal... I'm new to the Nucleo, haven't written code in 4 years - pardon any lapse in knowledge...

Answer 1

If DCLK works at 20Mhz, the uC is obviously not fast enough (you have about 3 instructions between each cycle, so even assembly language would be difficult to implement...). As I am not familiar with the stm architecture, I can only suggest a trick that will maybe spark some ideas in your head. Rather than using a crystal for the ADC, use a timer from the STM that is connected to an output pin, and clock the ADC using that pin (MCLK). When configuring the ADC using spi, idle mode, etc. you can leave this clock signal at 20Mhz. But when you need a sample from the ADC, stop the STM timer and clock the ADC "manually". (you practically control the DCLK signal). After your conversion routine is over, restart the timer at 20Mhz.