The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator

S. M. Ord; B. Crosse; D. Emrich; D. Pallot; R. B. Wayth; M. A. Clark; S. E. Tremblay; W. Arcus; D. Barnes; M. Bell; G. Bernardi; N. D.R. Bhat; J. D. Bowman; F. Briggs; J. D. Bunton; R. J. Cappallo; B. E. Corey; A. A. Deshpande; L. Desouza; A. Ewell-Wice; L. Feng; R. Goeke; L. J. Greenhill; B. J. Hazelton; D. Herne; J. N. Hewitt; L. Hindson; N. Hurley-Walker; D. Jacobs; M. Johnston-Hollitt; D. L. Kaplan; J. C. Kasper; B. B. Kincaid; R. Koenig; E. Kratzenberg; N. Kudryavtseva; E. Lenc; C. J. Lonsdale; M. J. Lynch; B. McKinley; S. R. McWhirter; D. A. Mitchell; M. F. Morales; E. Morgan; D. Oberoi; A. Offringa; J. Pathikulangara; B. Pindor; T. Prabu; P. Procopio; R. A. Remillard; J. Riding; A. E.E. Rogers; A. Roshi; J. E. Salah; R. J. Sault; N. Udaya Shankar; K. S. Srivani; J. Stevens; R. Subrahmanyan; S. J. Tingay; M. Waterson; R. L. Webster; A. R. Whitney; A. Williams; C. L. Williams; J. S.B. Wyithe

doi:10.1017/pasa.2015.5

The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator

S. M. Ord^*, B. Crosse, D. Emrich, D. Pallot, R. B. Wayth, M. A. Clark, S. E. Tremblay, W. Arcus, D. Barnes, M. Bell, G. Bernardi, N. D.R. Bhat, J. D. Bowman, F. Briggs, J. D. Bunton, R. J. Cappallo, B. E. Corey, A. A. Deshpande, L. Desouza, A. Ewell-WiceL. Feng, R. Goeke, L. J. Greenhill, B. J. Hazelton, D. Herne, J. N. Hewitt, L. Hindson, N. Hurley-Walker, D. Jacobs, M. Johnston-Hollitt, D. L. Kaplan, J. C. Kasper, B. B. Kincaid, R. Koenig, E. Kratzenberg, N. Kudryavtseva, E. Lenc, C. J. Lonsdale, M. J. Lynch, B. McKinley, S. R. McWhirter, D. A. Mitchell, M. F. Morales, E. Morgan, D. Oberoi, A. Offringa, J. Pathikulangara, B. Pindor, T. Prabu, P. Procopio, R. A. Remillard, J. Riding, A. E.E. Rogers, A. Roshi, J. E. Salah, R. J. Sault, N. Udaya Shankar, K. S. Srivani, J. Stevens, R. Subrahmanyan, S. J. Tingay, M. Waterson, R. L. Webster, A. R. Whitney, A. Williams, C. L. Williams, J. S.B. Wyithe

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

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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
Article number	e006
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Volume	32
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2015.5
Publication status	Published - 16 Feb 2015

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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, J. D., Briggs, F., Bunton, J. D., Cappallo, R. J., Corey, B. E., Deshpande, A. A., Desouza, L., ... Wyithe, J. S. B. (2015). The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 32, Article e006. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2015.5

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title = "The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator",

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.",

keywords = "instrumentation: interferometers, techniques: interferometric",

author = "Ord, {S. M.} and B. Crosse and D. Emrich and D. Pallot and Wayth, {R. B.} and Clark, {M. A.} and Tremblay, {S. E.} and W. Arcus and D. Barnes and M. Bell and G. Bernardi and Bhat, {N. D.R.} and Bowman, {J. D.} and F. Briggs and Bunton, {J. D.} and Cappallo, {R. J.} and Corey, {B. E.} and Deshpande, {A. A.} and L. Desouza and A. Ewell-Wice and L. Feng and R. Goeke and Greenhill, {L. J.} and Hazelton, {B. J.} and D. Herne and Hewitt, {J. N.} and L. Hindson and N. Hurley-Walker and D. Jacobs and M. Johnston-Hollitt and Kaplan, {D. L.} and Kasper, {J. C.} and Kincaid, {B. B.} and R. Koenig and E. Kratzenberg and N. Kudryavtseva and E. Lenc and Lonsdale, {C. J.} and Lynch, {M. J.} and B. McKinley and McWhirter, {S. R.} and Mitchell, {D. A.} and Morales, {M. F.} and E. Morgan and D. Oberoi and A. Offringa and J. Pathikulangara and B. Pindor and T. Prabu and P. Procopio and Remillard, {R. A.} and J. Riding and Rogers, {A. E.E.} and A. Roshi and Salah, {J. E.} and Sault, {R. J.} and {Udaya Shankar}, N. and Srivani, {K. S.} and J. Stevens and R. Subrahmanyan and Tingay, {S. J.} and M. Waterson and Webster, {R. L.} and Whitney, {A. R.} and A. Williams and Williams, {C. L.} and Wyithe, {J. S.B.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Astronomical Society of Australia.",

year = "2015",

month = feb,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1017/pasa.2015.5",

language = "English",

volume = "32",

journal = "Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia",

issn = "1323-3580",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

}

Ord, SM, Crosse, B, Emrich, D, Pallot, D, Wayth, RB, Clark, MA, Tremblay, SE, Arcus, W, Barnes, D, Bell, M, Bernardi, G, Bhat, NDR, Bowman, JD, Briggs, F, Bunton, JD, Cappallo, RJ, Corey, BE, Deshpande, AA, Desouza, L, Ewell-Wice, A, Feng, L, Goeke, R, Greenhill, LJ, Hazelton, BJ, Herne, D, Hewitt, JN, Hindson, L, Hurley-Walker, N, Jacobs, D, Johnston-Hollitt, M, Kaplan, DL, Kasper, JC, Kincaid, BB, Koenig, R, Kratzenberg, E, Kudryavtseva, N, Lenc, E, Lonsdale, CJ, Lynch, MJ, McKinley, B, McWhirter, SR, Mitchell, DA, Morales, MF, Morgan, E, Oberoi, D, Offringa, A, Pathikulangara, J, Pindor, B, Prabu, T, Procopio, P, Remillard, RA, Riding, J, Rogers, AEE, Roshi, A, Salah, JE, Sault, RJ, Udaya Shankar, N, Srivani, KS, Stevens, J, Subrahmanyan, R, Tingay, SJ, Waterson, M, Webster, RL, Whitney, AR, Williams, A, Williams, CL & Wyithe, JSB 2015, 'The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator', Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, vol. 32, e006. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2015.5

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, J. D.

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, D.

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

U2 - 10.1017/pasa.2015.5

DO - 10.1017/pasa.2015.5

M3 - Article

SN - 1323-3580

VL - 32

JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

M1 - e006

ER -

The Murchison Widefield Array Correlator

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