1201.5413 (Peter K. G. Williams)
Peter K. G. Williams
This memo describes the system used to conduct commensal correlator and
beamformer observations at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). This system was
deployed for ~2 years until the ATA hibernation in 2011 and was responsible for
collecting >5 TB of data during thousands of hours of observations. The general
system design is presented and the implementation is discussed in detail. I
emphasize the rationale for various design decisions and attempt to document a
few aspects of ATA operations that might not be obvious to non-insiders. I
close with some recommendations from my experience developing the software
infrastructure and managing the correlator observations. These include: reuse
existing systems; solve, don't avoid, tensions between projects, and share
infrastructure; plan to make standalone observations to complement the
commensal ones; and be considerate of observatory staff when deploying new and
unusual observing modes. The structure of the software codebase is documented.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.5413
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