Baseband processing, e-VLBI, and SKA simulations

Steven TingaySwinburne University of Technology

MNRF Symposium, 8 June, 2004

Swinburne MNRF Program Provide facilities that will benefit the Australian community now, strengthen

Australia’s bid for the SKA, and make a significant contribution directly to the international SKA project

• Baseband processing applications, SKA prototyping and demonstration

– Pulsar timing using PC clusters (Matthew Bailes talk)– e-VLBI. Demonstrates :

• baseband recording/buffering;• real-time data transport and correlation on long baselines;• Data archiving, sensitive wide-field imaging;• e-VLBI is the SKA without the collecting area or bandwidth

• SKA simulations

– Development of MIT/Haystack simulator for SKA– Collaboration in EU FP6 proposal– Involvement in SSWG– SKA cost estimation

e-VLBI• Develop baseband recording technologies

for VLBI;• Develop software correlators and other

baseband processing technologies for VLBI;

• Collaborate with ATNF and University of Tasmania – use multi-Gbps links:– 5 point plan over next 3 – 4 years (See Tasso

Tzioumis);– Demonstration of e-VLBI this year;– Gbps e-VLBI within 12 months between some

antennas;– Real-time e-VLBI by 2007 using broad-band

ATCA correlator– Well-developed science case

Recent highlight – global disk-based and e-VLBI

experiment• Nine antennas in two seven antenna experiments in

April 2004 – most ambitious technical demonstration of disk-based VLBI:– Australia: ATCA, Mopra, Parkes, Hobart, Tidbinbilla, Ceduna– USA: Pie Town (VLBA)– South Africa: Hartebeestoek– Japan: Kashima

• Three different disk-based VLBI recording systems:– PC-EVN– MkV (two varieties)– K5

• Software correlation in near real-time– Fringes between 4 Australian antennas– Software correlation of full experiment on Swinburne

supercomputer

SKA simulations• Provide supercomputing resources and

software development to the national and global SKA simulation communities:

– ATNF (array configuration studies); – University of Melbourne (EoR simulations)– MIT/Haystack (simulation code)– Oxford (science simulations)– EU FP6 (all aspects of SKA simulation – will find out

in next few months)– …– …– …

– Coordinated by SSWG (reports to the ISSC - chaired by Tingay)

SKA cost estimation• Collaboration between Swinburne University,

SKA International Project Office, and International Engineering Management Team;

• Standard definition of SKA engineering subsystems;

• Estimate the construction and operations cost for the different SKA configurations;

• Include operational costs, software costs, etc;

• Implemented as an interactive software tool for general or expert use;

• To be reviewed at Penticton meeting next month.