A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array

Thiagaraj Prabu; K S Srivani; Anish Roshi; P A Kamini; S Madhavi; David Emrich; Brian Crosse; Andrew J Williams; Mark F Waterson; Avinash Deshpande; N Udaya Shankar; Ravi Subrahmanyan; Frank H Briggs; Robert F Goeke; Steven John Tingay; Melanie Johnston-Hollitt; M R Gopalakrishna; Edward H Morgan; Joseph Pathikulangara; John D Bunton; Grant Hampson; Christopher L Williams; Stephen M Ord; Randall B Wayth; Deepak Kumar; Miguel F Morales; Ludi deSouza; Eric Kratzenberg; Dave Pallot; Stephen Russell McWhirter; Bryna J Hazelton; Wayne Arcus; David Graeme Barnes; Gianni Bernardi; Tom Booler; Judd D Bowman; Roger J Cappallo; Brian E Corey; Lincoln J Greenhill; David Edwin Herne; Jacqueline N Hewitt; David L Kaplan; Justin C Kasper; Barton B Kincaid; Ronald Koenig; Colin J Lonsdale; Mervyn John Lynch; Daniel A Mitchell; Divya Oberoi; Ronald A Remillard

doi:10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array

Thiagaraj Prabu, K S Srivani, Anish Roshi, P A Kamini, S Madhavi, David Emrich, Brian Crosse, Andrew J Williams, Mark F Waterson, Avinash Deshpande, N Udaya Shankar, Ravi Subrahmanyan, Frank H Briggs, Robert F Goeke, Steven John Tingay, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, M R Gopalakrishna, Edward H Morgan, Joseph Pathikulangara, John D BuntonGrant Hampson, Christopher L Williams, Stephen M Ord, Randall B Wayth, Deepak Kumar, Miguel F Morales, Ludi deSouza, Eric Kratzenberg, Dave Pallot, Stephen Russell McWhirter, Bryna J Hazelton, Wayne Arcus, David Graeme Barnes, Gianni Bernardi, Tom Booler, Judd D Bowman, Roger J Cappallo, Brian E Corey, Lincoln J Greenhill, David Edwin Herne, Jacqueline N Hewitt, David L Kaplan, Justin C Kasper, Barton B Kincaid, Ronald Koenig, Colin J Lonsdale, Mervyn John Lynch, Daniel A Mitchell, Divya Oberoi, Ronald A Remillard

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An FPGA-based digital-receiver has been developed for a low-frequency imaging radio interferometer, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The MWA, located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, consists of 128 dual-polarized aperture-array elements (tiles) operating between 80 and 300 MHz, with a total processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for each polarization. Radio-frequency signals from the tiles are amplified and band limited using analog signal conditioning units; sampled and channelized by digital-receivers. The signals from eight tiles are processed by a single digital-receiver, thus requiring 16 digital-receivers for the MWA. The main function of the digital-receivers is to digitize the broad-band signals from each tile, channelize them to form the sky-band, and transport it through optical fibers to a centrally located correlator for further processing. The digital-receiver firmware also implements functions to measure the signal power, perform power equalization across the band, detect interference-like events, and invoke diagnostic modes. The digital-receiver is controlled by high-level programs running on a single-board-computer. This paper presents the digital-receiver design, implementation, current status, and plans for future enhancements.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	73-93
Number of pages	21
Journal	Experimental Astronomy
Volume	39
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3
Publication status	Published - 2015
Externally published	Yes

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10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

Cite this

Prabu, T., Srivani, K. S., Roshi, A., Kamini, P. A., Madhavi, S., Emrich, D., Crosse, B., Williams, A. J., Waterson, M. F., Deshpande, A., Udaya Shankar, N., Subrahmanyan, R., Briggs, F. H., Goeke, R. F., Tingay, S. J., Johnston-Hollitt, M., Gopalakrishna, M. R., Morgan, E. H., Pathikulangara, J., ... Remillard, R. A. (2015). A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array. Experimental Astronomy, 39(1), 73-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

@article{d3974f2056d34674ad8d525f0edeeb8c,

title = "A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array",

abstract = "An FPGA-based digital-receiver has been developed for a low-frequency imaging radio interferometer, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The MWA, located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, consists of 128 dual-polarized aperture-array elements (tiles) operating between 80 and 300 MHz, with a total processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for each polarization. Radio-frequency signals from the tiles are amplified and band limited using analog signal conditioning units; sampled and channelized by digital-receivers. The signals from eight tiles are processed by a single digital-receiver, thus requiring 16 digital-receivers for the MWA. The main function of the digital-receivers is to digitize the broad-band signals from each tile, channelize them to form the sky-band, and transport it through optical fibers to a centrally located correlator for further processing. The digital-receiver firmware also implements functions to measure the signal power, perform power equalization across the band, detect interference-like events, and invoke diagnostic modes. The digital-receiver is controlled by high-level programs running on a single-board-computer. This paper presents the digital-receiver design, implementation, current status, and plans for future enhancements.",

author = "Thiagaraj Prabu and Srivani, {K S} and Anish Roshi and Kamini, {P A} and S Madhavi and David Emrich and Brian Crosse and Williams, {Andrew J} and Waterson, {Mark F} and Avinash Deshpande and {Udaya Shankar}, N and Ravi Subrahmanyan and Briggs, {Frank H} and Goeke, {Robert F} and Tingay, {Steven John} and Melanie Johnston-Hollitt and Gopalakrishna, {M R} and Morgan, {Edward H} and Joseph Pathikulangara and Bunton, {John D} and Grant Hampson and Williams, {Christopher L} and Ord, {Stephen M} and Wayth, {Randall B} and Deepak Kumar and Morales, {Miguel F} and Ludi deSouza and Eric Kratzenberg and Dave Pallot and McWhirter, {Stephen Russell} and Hazelton, {Bryna J} and Wayne Arcus and Barnes, {David Graeme} and Gianni Bernardi and Tom Booler and Bowman, {Judd D} and Cappallo, {Roger J} and Corey, {Brian E} and Greenhill, {Lincoln J} and Herne, {David Edwin} and Hewitt, {Jacqueline N} and Kaplan, {David L} and Kasper, {Justin C} and Kincaid, {Barton B} and Ronald Koenig and Lonsdale, {Colin J} and Lynch, {Mervyn John} and Mitchell, {Daniel A} and Divya Oberoi and Remillard, {Ronald A}",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3",

language = "English",

volume = "39",

pages = "73--93",

journal = "Experimental Astronomy",

issn = "0922-6435",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

Prabu, T, Srivani, KS, Roshi, A, Kamini, PA, Madhavi, S, Emrich, D, Crosse, B, Williams, AJ, Waterson, MF, Deshpande, A, Udaya Shankar, N, Subrahmanyan, R, Briggs, FH, Goeke, RF, Tingay, SJ, Johnston-Hollitt, M, Gopalakrishna, MR, Morgan, EH, Pathikulangara, J, Bunton, JD, Hampson, G, Williams, CL, Ord, SM, Wayth, RB, Kumar, D, Morales, MF, deSouza, L, Kratzenberg, E, Pallot, D, McWhirter, SR, Hazelton, BJ, Arcus, W, Barnes, DG, Bernardi, G, Booler, T, Bowman, JD, Cappallo, RJ, Corey, BE, Greenhill, LJ, Herne, DE, Hewitt, JN, Kaplan, DL, Kasper, JC, Kincaid, BB, Koenig, R, Lonsdale, CJ, Lynch, MJ, Mitchell, DA, Oberoi, D & Remillard, RA 2015, 'A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array', Experimental Astronomy, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 73-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - A digital-receiver for the Murchison Widefield Array

AU - Prabu, Thiagaraj

AU - Srivani, K S

AU - Roshi, Anish

AU - Kamini, P A

AU - Madhavi, S

AU - Emrich, David

AU - Crosse, Brian

AU - Williams, Andrew J

AU - Waterson, Mark F

AU - Deshpande, Avinash

AU - Udaya Shankar, N

AU - Subrahmanyan, Ravi

AU - Briggs, Frank H

AU - Goeke, Robert F

AU - Tingay, Steven John

AU - Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie

AU - Gopalakrishna, M R

AU - Morgan, Edward H

AU - Pathikulangara, Joseph

AU - Bunton, John D

AU - Hampson, Grant

AU - Williams, Christopher L

AU - Ord, Stephen M

AU - Wayth, Randall B

AU - Kumar, Deepak

AU - Morales, Miguel F

AU - deSouza, Ludi

AU - Kratzenberg, Eric

AU - Pallot, Dave

AU - McWhirter, Stephen Russell

AU - Hazelton, Bryna J

AU - Arcus, Wayne

AU - Barnes, David Graeme

AU - Bernardi, Gianni

AU - Booler, Tom

AU - Bowman, Judd D

AU - Cappallo, Roger J

AU - Corey, Brian E

AU - Greenhill, Lincoln J

AU - Herne, David Edwin

AU - Hewitt, Jacqueline N

AU - Kaplan, David L

AU - Kasper, Justin C

AU - Kincaid, Barton B

AU - Koenig, Ronald

AU - Lonsdale, Colin J

AU - Lynch, Mervyn John

AU - Mitchell, Daniel A

AU - Oberoi, Divya

AU - Remillard, Ronald A

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - An FPGA-based digital-receiver has been developed for a low-frequency imaging radio interferometer, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The MWA, located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, consists of 128 dual-polarized aperture-array elements (tiles) operating between 80 and 300 MHz, with a total processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for each polarization. Radio-frequency signals from the tiles are amplified and band limited using analog signal conditioning units; sampled and channelized by digital-receivers. The signals from eight tiles are processed by a single digital-receiver, thus requiring 16 digital-receivers for the MWA. The main function of the digital-receivers is to digitize the broad-band signals from each tile, channelize them to form the sky-band, and transport it through optical fibers to a centrally located correlator for further processing. The digital-receiver firmware also implements functions to measure the signal power, perform power equalization across the band, detect interference-like events, and invoke diagnostic modes. The digital-receiver is controlled by high-level programs running on a single-board-computer. This paper presents the digital-receiver design, implementation, current status, and plans for future enhancements.

AB - An FPGA-based digital-receiver has been developed for a low-frequency imaging radio interferometer, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The MWA, located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, consists of 128 dual-polarized aperture-array elements (tiles) operating between 80 and 300 MHz, with a total processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for each polarization. Radio-frequency signals from the tiles are amplified and band limited using analog signal conditioning units; sampled and channelized by digital-receivers. The signals from eight tiles are processed by a single digital-receiver, thus requiring 16 digital-receivers for the MWA. The main function of the digital-receivers is to digitize the broad-band signals from each tile, channelize them to form the sky-band, and transport it through optical fibers to a centrally located correlator for further processing. The digital-receiver firmware also implements functions to measure the signal power, perform power equalization across the band, detect interference-like events, and invoke diagnostic modes. The digital-receiver is controlled by high-level programs running on a single-board-computer. This paper presents the digital-receiver design, implementation, current status, and plans for future enhancements.

U2 - 10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

DO - 10.1007/s10686-015-9444-3

M3 - Article

SN - 0922-6435

VL - 39

SP - 73

EP - 93

JO - Experimental Astronomy

JF - Experimental Astronomy

IS - 1

ER -