A multitasking, multisinked, multiprocessor data acquisition front end

A description is given of a generalized data-acquisition front-end system that is based on MC68020 processors running a commercial real-time kernel (pSOS) and is implemented primarily in a high-level language (C). This system has been attached to the back-end online computing system at NSCL by means of a high-performance Ethernet protocol. Data may be simultaneously sent to any number of back-end systems. Fixed fraction sampling along links to back-end computing is also supported. A nonprocedural program generator simplifies the development of experiment-specific code.<
>