Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

8 Channel Coincidence Processor Users Manual

Techne Instruments Coincidence Processor is a compact, low cost instrument for time interval analysis and coincidence detection. Eight inputs are provided for digital signals. Four auxiliary analog inputs are simultaneously digitized with 10-bit resolution at a sample rate of 100MHz. An input is provided for an optional 10MHz reference clock, and another to reset the elapsed time counter. Instrument power, setup, and data transfer to a host PC is accomplished via a USB-2.0 compliant interface. Software drivers are provided to simplify setup and data acquisition.

Eight Digital Inputs Four Analog Inputs USB 2.0 Setup, Power and Data Acquisition 833 ps resolution in Timestamp mode 6M events/sec data rate in Timestamp Mode 10 ns resolution in Statistics Mode 500M event/sec data rate in Statistics Mode Setup and Data Acquisition via user-friendly GUI Class Library provided for calls by User Software

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Operating modes
The coincidence processor has three basic operating modes as described here. .

Time Stamp Mode

TimeStamp mode block diagram In Time Stamp mode, a rising-edge event occurring at any of the eight digital inputs causes a time-stamp word to be stored in the FIFO. An 8-bit Mask field accompanies the timestamp data, indicating which of the eight inputs had an edge during the indicated time step. The timing resolution in this mode is fixed at 833ps per step. A 32-bit hit counter, independent of the time-stamp data, monitors each of the eight digital inputs, and an elapsed time counter (whose time step is 256 times the timestamp step, or 53.3ns) keeps track of the system time at which the hit counters are read out, providing an accurate average edge rate for each input. The 32-bit TimeStamp counter, operating at a clock rate of 1.2GHz, produces a wraparound time of 3.57 seconds, while the elapsed time counter wraps in 916 seconds. A rising edge on the RESET input resets both counters. When the system is polled (after a user-selected number of timestamp words have been acquired), the elapsed time counter, eight hit counters, and all of the time-stamped event data words are packed into packets for efficient transmission to the host over the USB interface. The hit counters are reset each time they are read, while the elapsed time counter and time stamp counter continue to run until reset by a rising edge on the RESET input.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Timestamp mode, data flow In the example above, Digital inputs 1 through 4 are active (inputs 5 through 8 behave identically). At 1, edges occurring during a single time step on inputs 2 and 3 are detected as coincident; two bits are set in the mask field to indicate the two detected edges; the mask field with the timestamp value are assembled into a 40-bit packet and placed in a queue for transmission to the host. At 2, a single edge is detected on input 4 and a similar packet is created. In the same time step a rising edge on the Reset input sets the time counter back to zero. At 3, 4, and 5, edges are detected resulting in the data words shown. All of these data words are packed into a single packet along with the data from the hit counters and elapsed time counter and transmitted to the host when the requested number of events has been acquired. In this mode the effective clock frequency is 1200 MHz, corresponding to a step of 833 picoseconds.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Statistics mode

Statistics mode block diagram In Statistics mode a set of 255 counters keeps track of all of the possible coincidence patterns of the eight digital inputs. The coincidence interval is set by the user in the range 5ns to 750us. The Elapsed Time counter and the eight hit counters are provided, as in Time Stamp mode, to provide an accurate, independent edge rate for each input. When the system is polled (at a userspecified time interval), the elapsed time counter and eight hit counters are read out as in Time Stamp mode, then the 255 32-bit coincidence counters are read out.

Statistics mode signal timing In the example above, the coincidence interval has been set by the user as shown. At 1, edges on DIG2, DIG3, and DIG4 are detected within the prescribed interval, so the counter whose binary index is 00001110, or counter14, is incremented. Similarly, at 2, counter 00001001, = counter9, is incremented, and at 3, counter14 is incremented again. Note that a single edge on DIG4 is included in two coincidence events, at 1 and at 2.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Analog Mode

Analog mode functions as a four-channel oscilloscope, with a fixed sample rate of 100 MSPS. The user selects a trigger level, source, and polarity, and when triggered, a single record, of fixed length 4090 samples, from all four channels is stored in the FIFO and transmitted to the host. The hit counters and elapsed time counter, operating on the DIG inputs, function as in the other two operating modes.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Specifications
DC Characteristics: Digital Event Inputs Input Threshold: Individually settable in 255 steps, 0mv to 2.00v Input Voltage range, no damage: 0 to +5v Input Impedance: 50 ohm or Hi-Z*, software switchable Timer Reset Input: Input threshold, slope: 1.2v, rising edge resets elapsed time counter. Input Impedance: 50 ohm or Hi-Z*, software switchable External Clock Input: Frequency: 10MHz Input Amplitude: AC-coupled, minimum 1v pp

Analog Inputs Input Impedance: 50 ohms Input voltage range: 0 to +1.0v Sample Rate: 100MHz fixed Sampling Resolution: 10 bits * In Hi-Z mode, a few microamps of bias current will be drawn from the signal source AC Characteristics: Time Stamp Mode timing resolution: 833 ps fixed Time Stamp Counter range: 32 bits, providing a wrap-around time of 3.5 seconds Elapsed Time timing resolution: 213.2ns fixed Elapsed Time Counter range: 32 bits, providing a wrap-around time of 916 seconds Timing Jitter: less than 1 bin fwhm Minimum Event pulse width: 3ns, input amplitude >100mV 10ns, input amplitude <100mv Minimum amplitude to trigger Event inputs: 10mv Event rate: in Timestamp mode, up to 6M events/sec, operating system dependent In Statistics mode, up to 500M events/sec, assuming events distributed evenly over the 8 inputs.

LEDs In all operating modes, the red left LED flashes or lights steadily (dependent on input rate) when edges are detected at any of the digital inputs. In Analog mode only, the green right LED flashes when analog triggers are detected.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Hardware/Software installation
The Coincidence Processor prototype is built around an FPGA board manufactured by Opal Kelly. You must first install the USB driver. Insert the installation CD and run the appropriate driver installation program FrontPanel-DriverOnly-Win-Win32-3.1.0.exe for 32-bit Windows, or x64.. for 64-bit Windows.

Click through to install the driver:

When the driver installation completes, plug in the Coincidence Processor, and allow Windows to locate the driver:

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

When this is complete, open the FPGAfiles directory and copy the three files to the c:\ directory

Open the CoinPro_GUI directory and double-click the setup.exe icon:

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Tell Windows to go ahead and install:

The GUI should install and run, producing the following screen:

The Coincidence Processor is now ready for use.

Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Using the GUI

Time Stamp mode

GUI in TimeStamp mode In this mode, the user can set the number of events desired, the input threshold for each digital input, termination on or off for each of the digital inputs, the external clock input, and the RESET input. The GUI displays the average rates at each of the digital inputs and a rudimentary time interval analyzer (TIA) histogram display (if the Real Time Display box is checked). For purposes of the TIA display (these selections have no effect on the stored data), the user selects a digital input as Start, a digital input as Stop, and the position of the center of the histogram, in nanoseconds (the span of the display is fixed at 128bins * 833ps = 107ns). In the example above, inputs 1 and 2 are Start and Stop, respectively, and the TIA displays the distribution of intervals between rising edges at input 1 and input 2. The scale of this display is fixed at 833 ps per bin, 128 bins (106 ns) wide. If the Write to file box is checked, a single acquisition will be made and the events written to disk in ASCII fomat (see data formats, below). If this box is not checked, the data acquisition will repeat and the display will autoscale until the STOP button is clicked.

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc Statistics Mode

GUI in Statistics mode In Statistics mode the user can set the digital input thresholds and terminations, as in TimeStamp mode, the coincidence interval in nanoseconds or microseconds, and the polling interval in seconds. The GUI displays the average edge rates at the digital inputs, but does not provide a real time display of the statistics counters. If the Write To File box is checked, the data is written to an ASCII file (see data formats, below).

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc Analog Mode

GUI in Analog mode In Analog mode, the user can again set the digital thresholds (these are used only for the hit counters which produce the average rate displays for the eight digital inputs), terminations, and an analog threshold, polarity, and trigger source. A transition on the selected channel with the selected level and polarity will cause a single (four-channel) waveform acquisition to be made, consisting of 4090 (10-bit) samples from each of the four inputs. Sample rate is fixed at 100MSPS. If the Real Time Display box is checked, a simple oscilloscope-type display will be presented, with fixed scale (spanning the full ADC range vertically, and the full 40.9 us horizontally). If the Write to File box is checked, an ASCII file will be written to disk (see data formats, below). If this box is not checked, the data acquisition will repeat and the display will update until the STOP button is clicked.

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Data Formats
In each of the three operating modes the user has the option of storing the accumulated data in an ASCII file, with a default suffix of .csv, suitable for display in Excel. The three formats are described here. Time Stamp Mode Cell B2 B3 B4 C2 Contents Elapsed time counts Hit Counter 1 Hit Counter 2 Elapsed time difference, seconds (difference between current reading and last reading) Sequence number (data validity check) Mask, = 00000001, meaning edge detected on input 1 Time stamp value for this edge Mask, =00000010, meaning edge detected on input 2 Time stamp for this edge Difference between this timestamp and the last one etc

A12 B12 C12 B13 C13 D13

In this example, the digital inputs 1 and 2 are driven at a 104.90kHz rate, with the edge on input 1 preceding that on input 2 by 1.04us. the rate counters will display Rate = 306897/2.926 = 104.895kHz The time difference between 1 and 2 is 1248 counts, = 1248 * .8333ns = 1040.0ns

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc Statistics Mode Cell B2 B3 B4 C2 Contents Elapsed time counts Hit Counter 1 Hit Counter 2 Elapsed time difference, seconds (difference between current reading and last reading Statistics counter index Statistics counter 1 contents Statistics counter index Statistics counter 2 contents etc

A12 B12 A13 B13

In the example above, with the coincidence window set to 750ns and edges appearing at inputs 1 and 2 810ns apart, coincidences are never detected, and counters 1 (mask pattern 00000001) and 2 (mask pattern 00000010) show non-zero values, while the rest of the statistics counters are 0.

When the delay between edges at inputs 1 and 2 is reduced to 690ns, all of the edges are detected as coincident, and all counts fall into counter3.

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc Analog mode

In this example all four analog inputs are driven with a trapezoidal wave of various amplitudes. The counter values are reported as in the other operating modes (the digital inputs are undriven). The cells in column A from A12 on contain a sequence number, for data validity check. Column B from B12 down contains the data from analog input 4, column C from input 3, etc. A plot showing a small portion of the record is inset. There is a fixed 8-sample pretrigger delay.

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Coincidence Processor Users Manual revision0 Techne Instruments, Inc

Using the Class Library

A class library (libCoinPro) compiled under the Microsoft .NET framework (version 3.5) is included for use with user-created software. A description of the available functions is included here. CoinPro.ConfigureFPGA(Filename as String) Loads the FPGA bit file Filename into the FPGA CoinPro.SetDigTerm(Channel as Integer, TermOn as Boolean) 1<= Channel <= 10 (1 through 8 are the digital Event inputs, 9 is the External Clock input 10 is the Reset input, TermOn = True for 50 ohm termination, False for HighZ CoinPro.SetDigThresh(Channel as Integer, Threshold as Integer) 1<= Channel <= 8 (8 Digital Inputs) 0<= Threshold <= 255, DC threshold = 7.84mv * Threshold CoinPro.SetAnalogTrigger(Channel as integer, Threshold as Integer, RisingEdge as Boolean) 1<= Channel <= 4 (4 analog inputs) 0<= Threshold <= 1023 RisingEdge = True to trigger on Rising Edge, False for falling edge CoinPro.SetMode(Mode as String) Mode = TimeStamp or Statistics or Analog (case-sensitive) CoinPro.SetClockInt(IntOrExt as Boolean) IntOrExt = True for internal clock, false for external CoinPro.StartAcq() This function resets the hit counters, statistics counters, and data fifos CoinPro.GetData(NumEvents as Long, Array() as Long) In TimeStamp mode, 2<= NumEvents <= 2,796,000 In Statistics or Analog mode NumEvents is ignored Array() will contain the output data

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