DAS Reliability and Performance
Reliable Acquisition
KAM-500 data acquisition is based on a simple and robust concept – the ‘acquisition cycle’. Finite state machines are implemented on fixed function FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), not software dependent microprocessors. The FPGA is configured to repeatedly perform the same set of actions so that hardware performs reliably and in a completely deterministic manner– ‘works once, works always’.
- No software, stack or microprocessor
- No real-time decisions or interrupts
- No operating system (no boot up time)
- No potentiometers, jumpers or relays
- No SIMS (programmable filters)
No analog multiplexers = simultaneous sampling + no crosstalk
High Performance
The KAM-500’s high performance is achieved using an all-digital backplane with a throughput of up to 64Mbps (4Msps with 16 bits per sample). The KAM-500 supports hundreds of analog channels in a single, stand-alone chassis. For distributed systems the number of channels increases to thousands. All analog modules have high data integrity due to the following:
- Every analog channel has its own antialiasing filter, instrumentation amp at least 16 bit ADC and programmable digital filter
- Digital filtering is applied using FIR and IIR techniques for a wider choice of sampling rates, more accuracy and repeatability as well as immunity to temperature drifts
- All parameters are sampled independently of transmission
- Time correlation of sampled data is straightforward as parameters sampled at the same rate are sampled at exactly the same point in time
- Simultaneous sampling occurs across the complete system in every card in every chassis making it unnecessary to realign or interpolate samples during analysis