The on-board data handling concept for the LOFT large area detector

S. Suchy; P. Uter; C. Tenzer; A. Santangelo; A. Argan; M. Feroci; T. E. Kennedy; P. J. Smith; D. Walton; S. Zane; J. Portell; E. García-Berro

doi:10.1117/12.925663

17 September 2012 The on-board data handling concept for the LOFT large area detector

S. Suchy, P. Uter, C. Tenzer, A. Santangelo, A. Argan, M. Feroci, T. E. Kennedy, P. J. Smith, D. Walton, S. Zane, J. Portell, E. García-Berro

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8443, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 84435M (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925663
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) is one of the four candidate ESA M3 missions considered for launch in the timeframe of 2022. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. The LOFT scientific payload consists of a Large Area Detector and a Wide Field Monitor. The LAD is a 10m²-class pointed instrument with high spectral (200 eV @ 6 keV) and timing (< 10 μs) resolution over the 2-80 keV range. It is designed to observe persistent and transient X-ray sources with a very large dynamic range from a few mCrab up to an intensity of 15 Crab. An unprecedented large throughput (~280.000 cts/s from the Crab) is achieved with a segmented detector, making pile-up and dead-time, often worrying or limiting focused experiments, secondary issues. We present the on-board data handling concept that follows the highly segmented and hierarchical structure of the instrument from the front-end electronics to the on-board software. The system features customizable observation modes ranging from event-by-event data for sources below 0.5 Crab to individually adjustable time resolved spectra for the brighter sources. On-board lossless data compression will be applied before transmitting the data to ground.

Citation Download Citation

S. Suchy, P. Uter, C. Tenzer, A. Santangelo, A. Argan, M. Feroci, T. E. Kennedy, P. J. Smith, D. Walton, S. Zane, J. Portell, and E. García-Berro "The on-board data handling concept for the LOFT large area detector", Proc. SPIE 8443, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 84435M (17 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925663

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available