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| Paper: |
The BIAS (Back-end Independent Acquisition Subsystem) to upgrade the CIWS framework. |
| Volume: |
535, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXXI |
| Page: |
431 |
| Authors: |
Pastore, V.; Conforti, V.; Gianotti, F.; Trifoglio M. |
| Abstract: |
While existing telescopes continue producing data and scientific results, bigger telescopes and larger and more efficient detectors, both from the ground and
from space, are becoming available to support the incoming projects and missions in the astrophysics field. We are getting into an era in which new generation instruments will be producing terabytes of data a day. Therefore, we are facing non-trivial problems to solve in terms of acquiring and storing these data so that they do not get lost, and
processing them to enrich our knowledge in astrophysics. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) developed the CIWS (Customizable Instrument Workstation System) framework which provides a common and standard solution for acquiring, storing, processing, and quick-look the data acquired from scientific instruments for astrophysics. It has been used in many programs such as ASTRI and Euclid. The
main purpose of the BIAS project is to replace the DISCoS (Detector Independent Science Console Subsystem) component of the CIWS framework. The DISCoS software consists of the C programs to acquire, verify and archive in near real-time the telemetry and telecommand packets (ESA Packet Utilization Standard) in one set of files for
each measurement setup. The C language was selected to obtain excellent performance and properly manage the DISCoS component programs. Nevertheless, this language
does not apply the modern software engineering paradigms (e.g. object-oriented). Furthermore, it is also onerous to customize the programs to support future projects. In addition, some criticalities have been detected when DISCoS is commanded to switch the mode (run to idle and vice versa) which implies closing the current file and opening the new one. The BIAS project aims at overcoming these limits without affecting the excellent performance guaranteed by a low-level language such as C. The requirements of the BIAS subsystem are data type and format configurability, and software modularity, maintainability and extensibility to support future astrophysical projects. The BIAS
software is under development in the C++ language and the preliminary version provides the acquisition via TCP/UDP protocol, and packet checking and storage. We present here the results of the comparison between the BIAS and DISCoS software by testing their performances in different use scenarios. |
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