Waveform Peak Detector Reduces Data Rate to Microcomputer Speeds

A commercially available detector array outputs data hundreds of times faster than the input READ rate of a microcomputer (/g=m/C). This waveform analyzer sifts out uninteresting signals and permits the /g=m/C to read all useful data. A 1024-bin detector array can output 16 parallel channels of analog information every 15 /g=m/s. This total data rate is 68.3 MHz, but a Motorola-68000-based VERSAbus-compatible /g=m/C (VM01) reads data at about 100 kHz. In order for the /g=m/C to keep up, the data rate must be reduced by a factor of 684 (or more). A solution is possible because, at any given time, only a few bins of the detector array contain useful information. This waveform peak detector finds the few interesting signals and reports the peak magnitude, location, and time of arrival to the /g=m/C. Several algorithms were designed to handle a wide dynamic range of input waveforms.