AA-mid Strategy to proceed to SRR & next steps AuthorAndrew Faulkner AA dCoDR: 23 November 2011

General AAVS Schedule AA-mid Individual tile demonstratorsAAVS02011 Single array performance demonstratorAAVS12013 multi-array interferometer performance demonstratorAAVS22016 SKA 1 capable costed design2016 AA systemAA-low and AA-mid AA-CoDR2011 SKA 2 technology roadmap & costed system design2014 AA-mid SRRnot yet fixed but will be 1Q2013 The work will be affected by the WBS being undertaken and the SoW for SKA PEP

Digital processing architectures AAVS0 –EMBRACE processing AAVS1 – use similar processors to AA-low deployment –UNIBOARD per AA-low AAVS1 AAVS2 – Updated for current programmable devices –UNIBOARDx per AA-low AAVS2 SKA 2 Deployment…. –Upgraded to the then current generation devices

Decisions, decisions.... Front-end –Element typeVivaldi or ORA –Element pitchFrequency range and performance –LNASingle ended or differential Signal processing –BeamformingSplit analogue/digital –Data rates e.g.Tile to Station Processor Physical –TilesSplit or contiguous –Station processingLocation etc.

Principal design option decisions AA-mid element selectionQ –Vivaldi or ORA –Take forward viable designs through AAVS1 –Decision prior to AAVS2 PRR Processing ArchitectureQ & 2015 –AAVS0 & 1: not critical for processing hardware –Choose actual devices as late as possible –Decision after AAVS2, for build decision on SKA implementation

Critical design aspects 1. An acceptable cost level 2. An acceptable power level 3. Reduction of the system noise temperature 4. Scalability 5. Calibrateability 6. A verified performance for radio astronomy A lot of focus on: Cost & Power A lot of focus on: Cost & Power

Summary AA-mid finalising specifications: DRM, system SRR AA-mid on an SKA 2 timescale Progressive development through AAVS0-2 Options and selection available Progression over many years leading to SKA