Abstract
The Murchison Widefield Array is a Square Kilometre Array Precursor. The telescope is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The MWA consists of 4 096 dipoles arranged into 128 dual polarisation aperture arrays forming a connected element interferometer that cross-correlates signals from all 256 inputs. A hybrid approach to the correlation task is employed, with some processing stages being performed by bespoke hardware, based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and others by Graphics Processing Units housed in general purpose rack mounted servers. The correlation capability required is approximately 8 tera floating point operations per second. The MWA has commenced operations and the correlator is generating 8.3 TB day-1 of correlation products, that are subsequently transferred 700 km from the MRO to Perth (WA) in real-time for storage and offline processing. In this paper, we outline the correlator design, signal path, and processing elements and present the data format for the internal and external interfaces.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e006 |
Journal | Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia |
Volume | 32 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 16 2015 |
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Keywords
- instrumentation: interferometers
- techniques: interferometric
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
Cite this
The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator. / Ord, S. M.; Crosse, B.; Emrich, D.; Pallot, D.; Wayth, R. B.; Clark, M. A.; Tremblay, S. E.; Arcus, W.; Barnes, D.; Bell, M.; Bernardi, G.; Bhat, N. D R; Bowman, Judd; Briggs, F.; Bunton, J. D.; Cappallo, R. J.; Corey, B. E.; Deshpande, A. A.; Desouza, L.; Ewell-Wice, A.; Feng, L.; Goeke, R.; Greenhill, L. J.; Hazelton, B. J.; Herne, D.; Hewitt, J. N.; Hindson, L.; Hurley-Walker, N.; Jacobs, Daniel; Johnston-Hollitt, M.; Kaplan, D. L.; Kasper, J. C.; Kincaid, B. B.; Koenig, R.; Kratzenberg, E.; Kudryavtseva, N.; Lenc, E.; Lonsdale, C. J.; Lynch, M. J.; McKinley, B.; McWhirter, S. R.; Mitchell, D. A.; Morales, M. F.; Morgan, E.; Oberoi, D.; Offringa, A.; Pathikulangara, J.; Pindor, B.; Prabu, T.; Procopio, P.; Remillard, R. A.; Riding, J.; Rogers, A. E E; Roshi, A.; Salah, J. E.; Sault, R. J.; Udaya Shankar, N.; Srivani, K. S.; Stevens, J.; Subrahmanyan, R.; Tingay, S. J.; Waterson, M.; Webster, R. L.; Whitney, A. R.; Williams, A.; Williams, C. L.; Wyithe, J. S B.
In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, Vol. 32, e006, 16.02.2015.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator
AU - Ord, S. M.
AU - Crosse, B.
AU - Emrich, D.
AU - Pallot, D.
AU - Wayth, R. B.
AU - Clark, M. A.
AU - Tremblay, S. E.
AU - Arcus, W.
AU - Barnes, D.
AU - Bell, M.
AU - Bernardi, G.
AU - Bhat, N. D R
AU - Bowman, Judd
AU - Briggs, F.
AU - Bunton, J. D.
AU - Cappallo, R. J.
AU - Corey, B. E.
AU - Deshpande, A. A.
AU - Desouza, L.
AU - Ewell-Wice, A.
AU - Feng, L.
AU - Goeke, R.
AU - Greenhill, L. J.
AU - Hazelton, B. J.
AU - Herne, D.
AU - Hewitt, J. N.
AU - Hindson, L.
AU - Hurley-Walker, N.
AU - Jacobs, Daniel
AU - Johnston-Hollitt, M.
AU - Kaplan, D. L.
AU - Kasper, J. C.
AU - Kincaid, B. B.
AU - Koenig, R.
AU - Kratzenberg, E.
AU - Kudryavtseva, N.
AU - Lenc, E.
AU - Lonsdale, C. J.
AU - Lynch, M. J.
AU - McKinley, B.
AU - McWhirter, S. R.
AU - Mitchell, D. A.
AU - Morales, M. F.
AU - Morgan, E.
AU - Oberoi, D.
AU - Offringa, A.
AU - Pathikulangara, J.
AU - Pindor, B.
AU - Prabu, T.
AU - Procopio, P.
AU - Remillard, R. A.
AU - Riding, J.
AU - Rogers, A. E E
AU - Roshi, A.
AU - Salah, J. E.
AU - Sault, R. J.
AU - Udaya Shankar, N.
AU - Srivani, K. S.
AU - Stevens, J.
AU - Subrahmanyan, R.
AU - Tingay, S. J.
AU - Waterson, M.
AU - Webster, R. L.
AU - Whitney, A. R.
AU - Williams, A.
AU - Williams, C. L.
AU - Wyithe, J. S B
PY - 2015/2/16
Y1 - 2015/2/16
N2 - The Murchison Widefield Array is a Square Kilometre Array Precursor. The telescope is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The MWA consists of 4 096 dipoles arranged into 128 dual polarisation aperture arrays forming a connected element interferometer that cross-correlates signals from all 256 inputs. A hybrid approach to the correlation task is employed, with some processing stages being performed by bespoke hardware, based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and others by Graphics Processing Units housed in general purpose rack mounted servers. The correlation capability required is approximately 8 tera floating point operations per second. The MWA has commenced operations and the correlator is generating 8.3 TB day-1 of correlation products, that are subsequently transferred 700 km from the MRO to Perth (WA) in real-time for storage and offline processing. In this paper, we outline the correlator design, signal path, and processing elements and present the data format for the internal and external interfaces.
AB - The Murchison Widefield Array is a Square Kilometre Array Precursor. The telescope is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The MWA consists of 4 096 dipoles arranged into 128 dual polarisation aperture arrays forming a connected element interferometer that cross-correlates signals from all 256 inputs. A hybrid approach to the correlation task is employed, with some processing stages being performed by bespoke hardware, based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and others by Graphics Processing Units housed in general purpose rack mounted servers. The correlation capability required is approximately 8 tera floating point operations per second. The MWA has commenced operations and the correlator is generating 8.3 TB day-1 of correlation products, that are subsequently transferred 700 km from the MRO to Perth (WA) in real-time for storage and offline processing. In this paper, we outline the correlator design, signal path, and processing elements and present the data format for the internal and external interfaces.
KW - instrumentation: interferometers
KW - techniques: interferometric
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945200367&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84945200367&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/pasa.2015.5
DO - 10.1017/pasa.2015.5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84945200367
VL - 32
JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
SN - 1448-6083
M1 - e006
ER -