High Speed, Multi-Channel, User Programmable Digital Data Acquisition System

As applications for radiation detection become more demanding, and in turn improvements are made in the technology of radiation detection, there is a need for high speed digital detector readout electronics to match these improvements. Specifically, full control over the on-line processing resources of modern digital electronics is desirable so that researchers can develop custom algorithms for special applications. In the proposed effort, the 500 MHz digital readout electronics that our company has developed previously will be redesigned to allow user access to the on-line processing resources. In Phase I, the division of online processing into vendor and user firmware sections will be studied as a proof of principle on existing hardware. In Phase II, the hardware will be upgraded to better facilitate the division, and the firmware will be restructured into a robust vendor logic block (providing standard functions such as host I/O, on-board memory I/O, energy computation, MCA spectra, timestamps, waveform capture, on-board processing, run statistics, and trigger distribution between channels and modules) and a user logic block for custom algorithms (with templates and examples for frequently used functions). Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: In a wide range of scientific applications requiring precise timing, high throughput, and/or high resolution, the instrument can improve the quality and amount of data obtained with radiation detectors. Examples include spent fuel assay and UF6 monitoring, pulse shape analysis in Germanium detectors, and gamma/neutron discrimination in the signals of fast liquid scintillators. The instrument thus not only has the potential of being an extremely valuable tool for scientific research, it also carries the high public benefit of increasing national security and its use may be extended to a wide commercial arena.