TALON Demonstration Correlator Architecture for Early SKA Array Assemblies

The roll-out plan for Square Kilometer Array (Phase 1) (SKA1) Mid Frequency Telescope calls for five array assemblies which progressively integrate an increasing number of receptors and capabilities. The TALON Demonstration Correlator (TDC) is a small correlator / beamformer system to implement the first two array assemblies of the SKA1 Mid Frequency Telescope Correlator / Beamformer (Mid.CBF). The objective of the TDC design is to minimize the amount of hardware required for the early releases, while maximizing re-use of firmware and software across all array assemblies. The TDC is based on the TALON technology and Frequency Slice Architecture (FSA) developed by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada for the Mid.CBF. The TDC can process input from up to 16 dual-polarized receptors and can simultaneously generate the full visibility sets for all the baselines and form a beam as required for precise timing of known pulsars, both for 800 MHz of observed bandwidth.