Mariusz Orlikowski

High-performance image acquisition and processing system with MTCA.4

Fast evolution of high-performance cameras in recent years has made them promising tools for observing transient and fast events in large-scale scientific experiments. Complex experiments, such as ITER, take advantage of high-performance imaging system consisting of several fast cameras working in the range of visible and infrared light. The paper presents a first implementation of complete image acquisition system built on the basis of MTCA.4 architecture, which is dedicated for operation with high-resolution fast cameras equipped with Camera Link interface. Image data from the camera are received by the frame grabber card and transmitted to the host via PCIe interface. The modular structure of MTCA.4 architecture allows connecting several cameras to a single MTCA chassis. The system supports precise synchronization with the time reference using Precision Time Protocol (IEEE 1588). The software support for the system includes low-level drivers and API libraries for all components and high-level EPICS-based environment for system control and monitoring.

IEEE 1588 Time Synchronization Board in MTCA.4 Form Factor

Distributed data acquisition and control systems in large-scale scientific experiments, like e.g. ITER, require time synchronization with nanosecond precision. A protocol commonly used for that purpose is the Precise Timing Protocol (PTP), also known as IEEE 1588 standard. It uses the standard Ethernet signalling and protocols and allows obtaining timing accuracy of the order of tens of nanoseconds. The MTCA.4 is gradually becoming the platform of choice for building such systems. Currently there is no commercially available implementation of the PTP receiver on that platform. In this paper, we present a module in the MTCA.4 form factor supporting this standard. The module may be used as a timing receiver providing reference clocks in an MTCA.4 chassis, generating a Pulse Per Second (PPS) signal and allowing generation of triggers and timestamping of events on 8 configurable backplane lines and two front panel connectors. The module is based on the Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA and thermally stabilized Voltage Controlled Oscillator controlled by the digital-to-analog converter. The board supports standalone operation, without the support from the host operating system, as the entire control algorithm is run on a Microblaze CPU implemented in the FPGA. The software support for the card includes the low-level API in the form of Linux driver, user-mode library, high-level API: ITER Nominal Device Support and EPICS IOC. The device has been tested in the ITER timing distribution network (TCN) with three cascaded PTP-enabled Hirschmann switches and a GPS reference clock source. An RMS synchronization accuracy, measured by direct comparison of the PPS signals, better than 20 ns has been obtained.

MODELLING AND SYNTHESIS OF ELECTRO-THERMAL MICRODEVICES

In this chapter the main steps of micro-transducers design flow will be discussed. First, the CMOS compatible MEMS technology is introduced. The example of micromachined chip is presented. Next, the electro-thermal model of chosen micro-device and the procedure of its synthesis are proposed. The results of the model verification are included. Finally, the application of the electro-thermal converter (ETC) to the power factor correction is described.

Application of Inverse Problems to IC Temperature Estimation

In this chapter a method for IC temperature monitoring and estimation will be discussed. First, a brief mathematical description of the problem is presented. The work is focused on finding a solution of heat conduction equation for a thin silicon slab which would be suitable for solving inverse heat conduction problems (IHCPs) consisting in estimating surface heat flux in power ICs. Later, for a given structure, the solution proposed in this paper is compared with the one obtained using finite differences method (FDM).

A C++ shared-memory ring-buffer framework for large-scale data acquisition systems

Large-Scale Data Acquisition Systems are an essential part in many scientific experiments, and the processing of the large amount of data, represents a challenge in designing systems capable of managing such volume of data. Owing to the nature of this type of experiments, the processes responsible for gathering the data from devices which measure real-world phenomena, and those processes in charge of distributing the data to monitoring and/or controlling systems, shall communicate with accuracy and reliability. By running those processes concurrently in a multi-processor computer system such requirements of accuracy and reliability can be achieved. In this paper, we present the design of a C++ framework which implements a ring-buffer by using shared-memory as a fast mechanism of data communication among processes. Likewise, the framework controls the access to data in the shared ringbuffer by implementing inter-process synchronization objects in shared-memory. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is evaluated by evaluating the latency time from when a new data is written into the shared ring-buffer and the longest instant when such a data is gathered. After the experimental test, the results show that it is possible to develop a C++ framework for helping programmers to create data acquisition system when a large-scale data-stream is involved, getting suitable performance by using shared-memory.

Application of microelectronics in high energy physics and space technology

Department of Microelectronics and Computer Science of Lodz University of Technology has long traditions and high expertise in field of design of electronic systems of various kinds and for several applications. DMCS has expertise in design of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) based and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) based analog, mixed-signal and digital system designs. DMCS design teams participated in numerous national and international scientific research programs and grants. A series of commercial contracts was also conducted in DMCS. Many of these works finished with introduction of new systems into scientific installations or putting new product into general markets. Several DMCS achievements have been successfully patented. Such extensive experience in connection with wide field of scientific activities, enabled application of DMCS capabilities to quite different and even unusual electronic system applications aimed at work in extreme environments.

A simple multithreaded C++ framework for high-performance data acquisition systems

Data acquisition systems must be capable to process all the data produced by the source to ensure the highest level of accuracy, especially when it deals with hard real-time system monitoring. However, the production of data is faster than the process to acquire and to process such a data. Using concurrency approach is an alternative to obtain the required level of performance and data processing. This paper presents the comparison between various C++ frameworks that using multithreading technology and ring-buffer data structure allow data transfer in concurrent way. The comparison is based on the time interval between the instant when data is published and the instant when the data is gathered. These latency measurements have been taken using the structure of one producer and two consumers for all evaluated frameworks. The results show that it is possible to achieve suitable performance using standard C++ libraries to develop a simple framework for data acquisition systems.