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BIGCAT is the Broadband Integrated GPU Correlator for ATca,
a LIEF
(Australian Research Council Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities)
funded replacement of the existing CABB digitisers and correlator with a hybrid
FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
backend.
Dubbed
a brain transplant for the ATCA, BIGCAT will offer greater flexibility
and reliability than CABB, and will provide wider observing bandwidths resulting
in greater sensitivity.
Last week saw a team Marsfield visit Narrabri to install a test BIGCAT
RF (radio frequency) system on two antennas. The installation went smoothly
and the DiFX software correlator used to find interferometric fringes
between the two antennas.
The image above shows
engineers working on the test installation in the turret of an ATCA antenna.
(Image credit: Chris Phillips)
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