2,281 research outputs found
Multichannel FPGA based MVT system for high precision time (20~ps~RMS) and charge measurement
In this article it is presented an FPGA based ulti-oltage hreshold
(MVT) system which allows of sampling fast signals ( ns rising and falling
edge) in both voltage and time domain. It is possible to achieve a precision of
time measurement of ps RMS and reconstruct charge of signals, using a
simple approach, with deviation from real value smaller than 10.
Utilization of the differential inputs of an FPGA chip as comparators together
with an implementation of a TDC inside an FPGA allowed us to achieve a compact
multi-channel system characterized by low power consumption and low production
costs. This paper describes realization and functioning of the system
comprising 192-channel TDC board and a four mezzanine cards which split
incoming signals and discriminate them. The boards have been used to validate a
newly developed Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography system based on
plastic scintillators. The achieved full system time resolution of
(TOF) ps is by factor of two better with respect to the
current TOF-PET systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in JINST, 10 pages, 8 figure
Accelerating Reconfigurable Financial Computing
This thesis proposes novel approaches to the design, optimisation, and management of reconfigurable
computer accelerators for financial computing. There are three contributions. First, we propose novel
reconfigurable designs for derivative pricing using both Monte-Carlo and quadrature methods. Such
designs involve exploring techniques such as control variate optimisation for Monte-Carlo, and multi-dimensional
analysis for quadrature methods. Significant speedups and energy savings are achieved
using our Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) designs over both Central Processing Unit (CPU)
and Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) designs. Second, we propose a framework for distributing computing
tasks on multi-accelerator heterogeneous clusters. In this framework, different computational
devices including FPGAs, GPUs and CPUs work collaboratively on the same financial problem based
on a dynamic scheduling policy. The trade-off in speed and in energy consumption of different accelerator
allocations is investigated. Third, we propose a mixed precision methodology for optimising
Monte-Carlo designs, and a reduced precision methodology for optimising quadrature designs. These
methodologies enable us to optimise throughput of reconfigurable designs by using datapaths with
minimised precision, while maintaining the same accuracy of the results as in the original designs
Digital implementation of the cellular sensor-computers
Two different kinds of cellular sensor-processor architectures are used nowadays in various
applications. The first is the traditional sensor-processor architecture, where the sensor and the
processor arrays are mapped into each other. The second is the foveal architecture, in which a
small active fovea is navigating in a large sensor array. This second architecture is introduced
and compared here. Both of these architectures can be implemented with analog and digital
processor arrays. The efficiency of the different implementation types, depending on the used
CMOS technology, is analyzed. It turned out, that the finer the technology is, the better to use
digital implementation rather than analog
Stochastic resonance and finite resolution in a network of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons.
This thesis is a study of stochastic resonance (SR) in a discrete implementation of a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron network. The aim was to determine if SR can be realised in limited precision discrete systems implemented on digital hardware.
How neuronal modelling connects with SR is discussed. Analysis techniques for noisy spike trains are described, ranging from rate coding, statistical measures, and signal processing measures like power spectrum and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The main problem in computing spike train power spectra is how to get equi-spaced sample amplitudes given the short duration of spikes relative to their frequency. Three different methods of computing the SNR of a spike train given its power spectrum are described. The main problem is how to separate the power at the frequencies of interest from the noise power as the spike train encodes both noise and the signal of interest.
Two models of the LIF neuron were developed, one continuous and one discrete, and the results compared. The discrete model allowed variation of the precision of the simulation values allowing investigation of the effect of precision limitation on SR. The main difference between the two models lies in the evolution of the membrane potential. When both models are allowed to decay from a high start value in the absence of input, the discrete model does not completely discharge while the continuous model discharges to almost zero.
The results of simulating the discrete model on an FPGA and the continuous model on a PC showed that SR can be realised in discrete low resolution digital systems. SR was found to be sensitive to the precision of the values in the simulations. For a single neuron, we find that SR increases between 10 bits and 12 bits resolution after which it saturates. For a feed-forward network with multiple input neurons and one output neuron, SR is stronger with more than 6 input neurons and it saturates at a higher resolution. We conclude that stochastic resonance can manifest in discrete systems though to a lesser extent compared to continuous systems
Gaia in-orbit realignment. Overview and data analysis
The ESA Gaia spacecraft has two Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (WFS) on its
focal plane. They are required to refocus the telescope in-orbit due to launch
settings and gravity release. They require bright stars to provide good signal
to noise patterns. The centroiding precision achievable poses a limit on the
minimum stellar brightness required and, ultimately, on the observing time
required to reconstruct the wavefront. Maximum likelihood algorithms have been
developed at the Gaia SOC. They provide optimum performance according to the
Cr\'amer-Rao lower bound. Detailed wavefront reconstruction procedures, dealing
with partial telescope pupil sampling and partial microlens illumination have
also been developed. In this work, a brief overview of the WFS and an in depth
description of the centroiding and wavefront reconstruction algorithms is
provided.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, proceedings of SPIE Astronomical
Telescopes + Instrumentation 2012 Conference 8442 (1-6 July 2012
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