A digital data processing unit for future X-ray observatories

摘要

Future space-based X-ray observatories will not only have increased sensitivity and energy resolution but willprovide astronomers with high time resolution in the order of microseconds. The detection of millions of singlephotons per second with their precise energy and their time of arrival will produce unprecedented data rates thatcannot be downlinked to Earth in their full extend due to telemetry limitations. We present the study of a veryfast, lossless, on-board data compression implemented in an FPGA-based LEON3 microprocessor. We concludewith performance estimates done with a prototype board developed for the High Time Resolution Spectrometer(HTRS) on board the International X-ray Observatory (IXO). We also discuss a possible application of the DataProcessing Unit (DPU) for the future X-ray mission Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT).© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.