TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Arpad Szomoru, JIVE EXPReS progress, Mark5 and e-VLBI

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Correlator upgrades New data output platform Solaris AMD server with large raid array Fully interchangeable with control computers Needs endian-safe re-work of correlator code First fringes 2/10/07! Re-circulation Has been demonstrated to work Will be implemented on new platform Network upgrade All internal JIVE and e-VLBI traffic now through own router Has removed dependencies on ASTRON network

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE JIVE upgrade Mk5A+ and Mk5B Mark5A Upgrade of hardware (motherboards, memory, power supplies) nearly completed (12 out of 16) Mark5A+ Upgrade of Mark5A, enables play-back of Mark5B data on Mark5A units Used at JIVE with geodetic data sets And on converted Australian LBADR data Being used to help debug Westerbork TADUmax e-VLBI still an issue..

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE JIVE upgrade to Mk5B Two JIVE Mark5As converted to Mark5B One integrated in correlator One to Wb for TADUmax New control code: Dimino (at stations): Needs additional work to enable e- VLBI Let alone UDP transfer Domino (at correlator): Re-write of correlator control code progressing well Haystack engineers helping with modifications of Mark5B code First autocorrelations, though still no fringes

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE EXPReS network upgrade

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE New modes, feedback and streamlining Currently under development: Adaptive observing (to be tested soon) On-the-fly fringe fitting Real-time station-log processing, display of Tsys, status information Use of Westerbork synthesis data to improve e-VLBI calibration and target selection Recently completed: General speedup of correlator control code Real-time Mark5 debug info feedback to stations Re-connecting of individual stations without job re-start Space-craft tracking mode

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Pilot for e-shipping We have the infrastructure, let’s use it! In principle data can be shipped electronically This is NOT e-VLBI, mostly driven by economic arguments Use the “free” bandwidth available now Concerns: Requires extra work at correlator and stations May require additional disk packs at first Does not fit well with intensive sessions and 1 Mk5/station Needs good logistic procedures Pilot project Benchmark the burden on staff, work out safe logistics Develop procedures and software using infrastructure available from EXPReS But this is not an EXPReS deliverable, formally no resources For stations with high connectivity at first because of smaller impact on operations Maybe do some of the last NME’s in a session

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE e-VLBI science 17 e-VLBI science projects accepted since 2006: 2 failed (in early 2006) 8 active binary systems Algol-type, X-ray or gamma-ray binaries); 4 of these were ToO projects 3 part of multi-wavelength campaign 1 adaptive observation of 16 X-ray binaries 4 after compactness of calibrator or target 1 spectral line run 1 supernova ToO

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE e-VLBI: data rate improvements

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE EXPReS: connectivity progress Connectivity in Europe Dedicated 1-Gbps lightpaths to 5/6 stations Upgraded Mark5 hardware at 5/6 tels. 512 Mbps from all stations possible but not reliably with TCP Move to UDP works great green leds at ~1024 Mbps from Torun... And beyond... Shanghai, Australian telescopes at 512 Mbps Arecibo, TIGO at 64 Mbps Thanks to large development effort Arecibo to higher bandwidth soon Still waiting for big dishes Progress at Effelsberg

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE EXPReS: connectivity progress Long-haul high-bandwidth data transport TCP on old linux kernels clearly inadequate Circuit TCP perfoms well (TCP with UDP-like behaviour, without congestion control) UDP better, but needs modification of Mark5A control code And can be hostile to other users on open network Stability of original code a serious issue Has led to complete re-write of subset of Mark5 control code

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Trans-siberian demo at Xi’An

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE e-VLBI results The APAN demo: Opened up Siberia connection Excellent PR Longest (e) baseline ever

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE e-VLBI results The Australia-JIVE EXPReS demo: Three Australian telescopes (Mopra, ATCA, Parkes) 12 hours at 512 Mbps without a hitch Beautiful detection of SN1987a

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE SCARIe FABRIC Software correlator developments First level of parallelization completed multiple subbands and time slices on multiple CPUs/cluster nodes New version was used to process recent FTP fringe tests. Web services to interface with workflow manager VLBI grid broker will be tested soon (with PSNC). Start doing benchmarking soon Spacecraft tracking mode versus performance Next step is to deliver AIPS compatible output data

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Software correlation (2)

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE UDP development Initial work by Harro Verkouter, (re-)enable UDP on Mark5A Collaboration with Richard Hughes-Jones and Simon Casey, integrate vlbi-udp in Mark5A code (some serious hacking) Packet dropping, re-ordering, spacing Quick-and-dirty solution by Harro, used for APAN and EXPReS-Oz demos Simon version improved, green leds at 1024 Mbps from Tr Harro despairs of stability and racing conditions in original Mark5A code, completely re-writes sub-set of code (in2net2out, disk2net2disk) Casey features incorporated, rigorous thread management, very stable Will be used in next e-VLBI run

TOG, Yebes, November 2007, A. Szomoru, JIVE Dim and dom, to A or not to B Mark5A+: works fine with MarkB e-VLBI data Demonstrated in EXPReS-OZ demo On-the-fly conversion from LBADR to Mark5B format Playback on A+ at JIVE Mark5B: Dimino: was thought to do e-VLBI, but... Domino: no e-VLBI at all Effort ongoing at Haystack to enable e-VLBI First tests end of November Need to ensure reliable high data-rate transfer Message to stations: do NOT change over to B just yet