OCTAD-S: Digital fast Fourier transform spectrometers by FPGA

Abstract

We have developed a digital fast Fourier transform spectrometer made of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The base instrument has independent ADC and FPGA modules, which allow us to implement different spectrometers in a relatively easy manner. Two types of spectrometers have been instrumented: one with 4.096 GS/s sampling speed and 2048 frequency channels and the other with 2.048 GS/s sampling speed and 32,768 frequency channels. The signal processing in these spectrometers has no dead time, and the accumulated spectra are recorded in external media every 8 ms. A direct sampling spectroscopy up to 8 GHz is achieved by a microwave track-and-hold circuit, which can reduce the analog receiver in front of the spectrometer. Highly stable spectroscopy with a wide dynamic range was demonstrated in a series of laboratory experiments and test observations of solar radio bursts.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]