Details
Epic
Must have Description
Feature Set Summary
PSS prototype pipeline with end-to-end functionality and limited performance, deployable on production PSS hardware
Detailed Description
By the end of PI16 (December 2022), the goal of the Pulsar Search MVP Epic is to create a functional, end-to-end, pulsar search pipeline (Cheetah) prototype to at least Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL4*) comprising a:
- Correlator Beamformer (CBF) interface
- GPU-based single pulse search (SPS)
- FPGA- based frequency domain acceleration search (FDAS)
- Science Data Processing (SDP) interface
using a managed software deployment system to deploy and implement on representative production hardware (ProtoNIP/Kelvin).
Epic Hypothesis Statement (https://www.scaledagileframework.com/epic/)
| For | the pulsar science community and the SKA stakeholders |
| who | undertakes cutting edge pulsar research and helps enable leading-edge radio astronomy science to be undertaken through the design of the SKA, respectively. |
| the | prototype pulsar search pipeline |
| is a | an end-to-end pulsar search pipeline designed from scratch to de-risk the ability to meet the SKA's unique, challenging requirements |
| that | provides a pulsar search minimum viable product (MVP) on present-day hardware with limited performance. |
| Unlike | other existing pulsar search software |
| our solution | uses highly efficient C++ code and GPU and FPGA accelerators. It also demonstrates the principles of the production pulsar search pipeline deployed and implemented on representative prototype production hardware. |
| Outcome hypothesis | Provides improved confidence in the mitigation of key functional and non-functional risks prior to production development and construction hence improving the likelihood of delivering the production solution to meet SKA technical and quality requirements within construction time and cost estimates. |
| Leading Indicators | - Functional verification testing through the use of high-quality test vectors - Demonstrations of PSS-SDP and PSS-CBF interfaces - Continuous integration of software modules into the pulsar search (Cheetah) pipeline - Early demonstration of MaaS (Metal as a Service) software deployment - Continuous test coverage quality auditing |
| NFRs | As well as demonstrating the ability to meet functional requirements, this development roadmap aims to emulate the deployment and execution of the pulsar search code on representative hardware in a relevant environment i.e. on the ProtoNIP cluster i.e at TRL5. This aims to provide improved confidence in the ability to: - deploy and test production code remotely - meet power consumption and quality requirements - meet space requirements - meet emitting Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) requirements |
| TRL | Definition |
|---|---|
| 3 | Analytical and experimental functional proof of concept |
| 4* | Basic validation in a lab environment |
| 5 | Basic validation in a relevant environment |
| 6 | Prototype demonstration in a relevant environment |
| 7 | Prototype demonstration in an operational environment |
| 8 | Production solution tested and validated in an operational environment |
| 9 | Production solution completed many operations successfully |
