Solving the corner-turning problem for large interferometers
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Tegmark_Solving the corner.pdf
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Author(s)
Lutomirski, Andrew Michael
Tegmark, Max Erik
Sanchez, Nevada J.
Stein, Leo C.
Urry, W. Lynn
Zaldarriaga, Matias
Date Issued
January 2011
Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher
Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society
Citation
Lutomirski, Andrew, Max Tegmark, Nevada J. Sanchez, Leo C. Stein, W. Lynn Urry, and Matias Zaldarriaga. “Solving the Corner-Turning Problem for Large Interferometers.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 410:3 (January 21, 2011): p.2075-2080.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The so-called corner-turning problem is a major bottleneck for radio telescopes with large numbers of antennas. The problem is essentially that of rapidly transposing a matrix that is too large to store on one single device; in radio interferometry, it occurs because data from each antenna need to be routed to an array of processors each of which will handle a limited portion of the data (say, a frequency range) but requires input from each antenna. We present a low-cost solution allowing the correlator to transpose its data in real time, without contending for bandwidth, via a butterfly network requiring neither additional RAM memory nor expensive general-purpose switching hardware. We discuss possible implementations of this using FPGA, CMOS, analog logic and optical technology, and conclude that the corner-turner cost can be small even for upcoming massive radio arrays.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17587.x
