CUPRI Timing Unit

(Cornell University Portable Radar Interferometer)

The CUPRI Timing Unit was originally designed for the Radar Signal Campander project. I consider it a grandchild of Ron Woodman's designs that were used at Jicamaca and Arecibo from which I gleaned some basic ideas. Two improvements over these earlier units are increased memory size, and the provision for longer time intervals with one word (which minimizes memory requirements). Its specifications are as follows:

Basic Clock Rate: 10 MHz.

Minimum Time Increment: 0.1 us.

Maximum Time Increment per command: Very Long (~2 hours).

Maximum Number of Program Steps: 8192

Typical Number of Program Steps used for SP: 30

Typical Number of Program Steps used for Complementary Codes: 160

Maximum Number of Resident independent programs: 2

Maximum Sample Clock Rate: 5 MHz (Set by one program step)

Number of Programmable Outputs: 24+ (combination of "independent" and "mutually exclusive" in the terminology of the Arecibo SPS. Standard outputs are used for the RF pulse drive and TR switch of the CUPRI Transmitter, and for the internally connected sample pulses required by the CUPRI ADCs.

Programmable via high-speed parallel port from host computer (currently Harris H100).

Software program to generate control files is called TUGEN.

Click for picture.

Contact Dr. Wesley Swartz or the Space Plasma Physics Research Group for further information.