Digital signal processing

Image of the GPUbased processing nodes
that are being used for
the MK+ CBF.

The MeerKAT correlator is based on the CASPER architecture that uses a combination of commodity and bespoke components to provide the required functionality for the central digital signal processor (or correlator/beamformer). SARAO has played a leading role in the international CASPER collaboration, providing hardware, firmware and software solutions. The processing elements in the current MeerKAT correlator are field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), the technology that was most appropriate at the time of the design. A new correlator is currently under development for the MeerKAT extension project that is based on graphical processing units (GPUs), illustrating SARAO’s agile approach to tracking appropriate technology solutions.

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