Implement Flow Through mode signal processing and RFI mitigation on GPU

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKZ900uo=/?moveToWidget=3458764584500380839&cot=14

Beneficiaries (Who)

• Commissioning scientists; AIV engineers

Benefit Hypothesis (Why)

• The implementation of the Flow Through mode in the DSP component of PST requires the first major signal processing functionality for the PST product, ahead of deployment at AA1. This mode will be realised by implementing the required pipeline using the DSPSR C++ signal processing library (external dependency), which will also be used for other PST processing modes. Flow Through mode data products will be part of the first Observatory Data Product (ODP) release near the end of AA2 - beginning of AA*.
• Flow Through mode: Typical tied-array beam observations at the full temporal resolution and over the full frequency band generate large amounts of data. The PST 'Flow Through' mode is a useful implementation that allows a commissioning scientist to record only a configurable portion of the band and with reduced bit-depth per sample. The ability to record a compressed version of the data is critical for reducing the turn-around time between obtaining and processing the data of an observation, and shortens the testing-learning-development cycles during telescope commissioning. Early commissioning tests of long-track pulsar observations, drift-scans of bright sources, as well as investigations of low-level RFI in the tied-array beam will benefit from such an implementation.

Description (What?)

• Following the preparatory CPU implementation of Flow Through processing, the CUDA/GPU implementation in DSPSR will be delivered that allows the Flow Through mode operations: re-quantisation, re-scaling, channel selection, voltage digitisation, unpacking
• Implement an RFI mitigation strategy in the Flow Through mode, to enable re-quantisation without clipping.
• Extend the BDD infrastructure for AA1 test cases of the Flow Through mode.

Acceptance Criteria

• API developed that supports GPU-based signal processing functionality needed for Flow Through mode.
• Architecture definition of SEND component with support for Flow Through data products
• Jira XRay BDD scenarios/tests for Flow Through added to the PST Internal Integration Plan.
• PST Release delivering Flow Through functionality, XRay tests linked to Release