An Agile, Precision Digital Spectrometer for Radio Science

AST-9987278将设计和建造一台用于射电天文观测球状星团和选定场区毫秒双星的频谱分析仪。 这种仪器将增加我们对恒星演化的理解。 精确计时的毫秒双星将探测宇宙引力波背景的长波长端。 不同质量的超大质量黑洞的合并可以通过检测它们发出的引力诱导辐射来检测。 仪器将是一个频谱分析仪，每张卡带宽为10至100兆赫兹。 将考虑五种办法，并选定一种办法予以实施。 该计划是检查技术，并使用最迅速发展和流行的架构，可在一个商业设备，既有广泛的用户基础和一个坚实的支持框架。 最有可能的方法是使用一系列市售的数字信号处理器用于频谱分析仪。 正在考虑每秒1千兆浮点运算范围内的高速处理器。***

Backer award abstractAST-9987278A spectrum analyzer for radio astronomy observations of millisecond pulsars in globular clusters and in selected field regions will be designed and built. This instrumentation will add to our understanding of stellar evolution. Precision timing of millisecond pulsars will probe the long-wavelength end of the cosmic gravitational wave background. The coalescence of super massive black holes of varying masses may be detected by sensing the gravitationally induced radiation they emit. The instrumentation will be a spectrum analyzer with 10 to 100 Mega Hertz bandwidth per card. Five approaches will be considered and one selected for implementation. The plan is to examine the technology and to use the most rapidly developing and popular architecture available in a commercial device that both has an extensive user base an da solid support framework. The most likely approach is to use an array of commercially available digital signal processors for the spectrum analyzer. High-speed processors in the range of 1 giga floating point operations per second are being considered. ***