A model for architecture exploration, scaling generic blocks for very large phased array telescopes

摘要

For the new generation of radio telescopes based on phased array principles, the complexity of the embedded systems is growing. The main changes are a very high bandwidth, multi-beaming, RFI suppression and scaling to thousands of elements. To handle the complexity and to facilitate the optimum design of a very large system, a high level architecture model is needed. The architecture exploration at system level is of high value, as it orients the intermediate and detailed design steps of a telescope. Moreover, the impact of detailed application selections should be visible at an early stage of the system design. Therefore we propose to improve the quality of the system models using possible combinations of processing and routing up to board and component levels to model generic hardware blocks. The blocks are connected at various levels of abstraction to the application process network. The model of the system architecture presented here is consequently derived from the high level system description and simulation, refined and scaled up using modular hardware blocks as mapping targets. The exercise allowed comparisons of telescope schemes for the station digital processing and the correlation based on existing and tested generic blocks.