556 research outputs found
The S2 VLBI Correlator: A Correlator for Space VLBI and Geodetic Signal Processing
We describe the design of a correlator system for ground and space-based
VLBI. The correlator contains unique signal processing functions: flexible LO
frequency switching for bandwidth synthesis; 1 ms dump intervals, multi-rate
digital signal-processing techniques to allow correlation of signals at
different sample rates; and a digital filter for very high resolution
cross-power spectra. It also includes autocorrelation, tone extraction, pulsar
gating, signal-statistics accumulation.Comment: 44 pages, 13 figure
The SFXC software correlator for Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Algorithms and Implementation
In this paper a description is given of the SFXC software correlator,
developed and maintained at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE). The
software is designed to run on generic Linux-based computing clusters. The
correlation algorithm is explained in detail, as are some of the novel modes
that software correlation has enabled, such as wide-field VLBI imaging through
the use of multiple phase centres and pulsar gating and binning. This is
followed by an overview of the software architecture. Finally, the performance
of the correlator as a function of number of CPU cores, telescopes and spectral
channels is shown.Comment: Accepted by Experimental Astronom
DiFX: A software correlator for very long baseline interferometry using multi-processor computing environments
We describe the development of an FX style correlator for Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI), implemented in software and intended to run in
multi-processor computing environments, such as large clusters of commodity
machines (Beowulf clusters) or computers specifically designed for high
performance computing, such as multi-processor shared-memory machines. We
outline the scientific and practical benefits for VLBI correlation, these
chiefly being due to the inherent flexibility of software and the fact that the
highly parallel and scalable nature of the correlation task is well suited to a
multi-processor computing environment. We suggest scientific applications where
such an approach to VLBI correlation is most suited and will give the best
returns. We report detailed results from the Distributed FX (DiFX) software
correlator, running on the Swinburne supercomputer (a Beowulf cluster of
approximately 300 commodity processors), including measures of the performance
of the system. For example, to correlate all Stokes products for a 10 antenna
array, with an aggregate bandwidth of 64 MHz per station and using typical time
and frequency resolution presently requires of order 100 desktop-class compute
nodes. Due to the effect of Moore's Law on commodity computing performance, the
total number and cost of compute nodes required to meet a given correlation
task continues to decrease rapidly with time. We show detailed comparisons
between DiFX and two existing hardware-based correlators: the Australian Long
Baseline Array (LBA) S2 correlator, and the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array
(VLBA) correlator. In both cases, excellent agreement was found between the
correlators. Finally, we describe plans for the future operation of DiFX on the
Swinburne supercomputer, for both astrophysical and geodetic science.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
The localization of single pulse in VLBI observation
In our previous work, we propose a cross spectrum based method to extract
single pulse signals from RFI contaminated data, which is originated from
geodetic VLBI postprocessing. This method fully utilizes fringe phase
information of the cross spectrum and hence maximizes signal power, however the
localization was not discussed in that work yet. As the continuation of that
work, in this paper, we further study how to localize single pulses using
astrometric solving method. Assuming that the burst is a point source, we
derive the burst position by solving a set of linear equations given the
relation between residual delay and offset to a priori position. We find that
the single pulse localization results given by both astrometric solving and
radio imaging are consistent within 3 sigma level. Therefore we claim that it
is possible to derive the position of a single pulse with reasonable precision
based on only 3 or even 2 baselines with 4 milliseconds integration. The
combination of cross spectrum based detection and the localization proposed in
this work then provide a thorough solution for searching single pulse in VLBI
observation. According to our calculation, our pipeline gives comparable
accuracy as radio imaging pipeline. Moreover, the computational cost of our
pipeline is much smaller, which makes it more practical for FRB search in
regular VLBI observation. The pipeline is now publicly available and we name it
as "VOLKS", which is the acronym of "VLBI Observation for frb Localization Keen
Searcher".Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A
Multi-source self-calibration: Unveiling the microJy population of compact radio sources
Context. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data are extremely
sensitive to the phase stability of the VLBI array. This is especially
important when we reach {\mu}Jy r.m.s. sensitivities. Calibration using
standard phase referencing techniques is often used to improve the phase
stability of VLBI data but the results are often not optimal. This is evident
in blank fields that do not have in-beam calibrators. Aims. We present a
calibration algorithm termed Multi-Source Self-Calibration (MSSC) which can be
used after standard phase referencing on wide-field VLBI observations. This is
tested on a 1.6 GHz wide-field VLBI data set of the Hubble Deep Field-North and
the Hubble Flanking Fields. Methods. MSSC uses multiple target sources detected
in the field via standard phase referencing techniques and modifies the
visibili- ties so that each data set approximates to a point source. These are
combined to increase the signal to noise and permit self-calibration. In
principle, this should allow residual phase changes caused by the troposphere
and ionosphere to be corrected. By means of faceting, the technique can also be
used for direction dependent calibration. Results. Phase corrections, derived
using MSSC, were applied to a wide-field VLBI data set of the HDF-N comprising
of 699 phase centres. MSSC was found to perform considerably better than
standard phase referencing and single source self-calibration. All detected
sources exhibited dramatic improvements in dynamic range. Using MSSC, one
source reached the detection threshold taking the total detected sources to
twenty. 60% of these sources can now be imaged with uniform weighting compared
to just 45% with standard phase referencing. The Parseltongue code which
implements MSSC has been released and made publicly available to the
astronomical community (https://github.com/jradcliffe5/multi_self_cal).Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted to A&
Precise absolute astrometry from the VLBA imaging and polarimetry survey at 5 GHz
We present in this paper accurate positions of 857 sources derived from the
astrometric analysis of 16 eleven-hour experiments from the Very Long Baseline
Array imaging and polarimetry survey at 5 GHz (VIPS). Among observed sources,
positions of 430 objects were not determined before at a milliarcsecond level
of accuracy. For 95% of the sources the uncertainty of their positions range
from 0.3 to 0.9 mas, with the median value of 0.5 mas. This estimate of
accuracy is substantiated by the comparison of positions of 386 sources that
were previously observed in astrometric programs simultaneously at 2.3/8.6 GHz.
Surprisingly, the ionosphere contribution to group delay was adequately modeled
with the use of the total electron contents maps derived from GPS observations
and only marginally affected estimates of source coordinates.Comment: Accepted for publication by the Astronomical Journal. 7 pages, 2
tables, 4 figures. Submission contains an ascii file with the catalogue. You
can get the catalogue by downloading the source of this paper and extracting
file table2.tx
- …