Prevas Test & Measurement in Lund, Sweden, in collaboration with the Swedish Spent Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB), has developed a compact and powerful 96-channel high-speed data acquisition system to tackle the challenge of detecting coincident events at sample rates in the hundreds of MHz across many channels. This effort supports the development of a proof-of-concept measurement station for spent nuclear fuel characterization.
To meet these demanding requirements, the team designed a solution that fully leverages the capabilities of the Red Pitaya STEMlab platform. The result is a 96-channel high-performance DAQ system, built using 24 Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 4-input devices (each with four analog inputs) and the Red Pitaya Click Shield. Designed for applications requiring efficient, high-speed data collection and real-time signal processing, this system is ideal for challenging industrial or scientific measurement environments. It is housed in a compact 4U 19-inch rack mount case, offering a space-saving and modular deployment.
The system is integrated into Constellation, an autonomous control and data acquisition system developed by the authors. Running on both the host computer and each STEMlab 125-14 4-input, Constellation provides a robust, open-source software framework for managing distributed data acquisition systems. It enables centralized control, monitoring, and streamlined synchronization across multiple channels.
A key innovation in this FPGA-based data acquisition system is the custom FPGA image, which performs advanced real-time data analysis directly on the device. This setup allows for tasks such as pulse shape discrimination and pulse height analysis to be executed on-the-fly. Each channel operates independently, generating its own trigger by analyzing waveforms. By processing only the events of interest and extracting relevant signal parameters, the system minimizes data transfer to the host, reducing bandwidth usage and increasing system efficiency.
To extend its capabilities, the Red Pitaya Click Shield was used to integrate multiple MIKROE Click boards. For example, the Expand 11 Click board enables 5V I/O compatibility, while the RDT Click enables precise temperature data acquisition using resistance temperature sensors. These features make the system suitable for environmental monitoring, temperature-sensitive measurements, and broader industrial applications.
The system leverages Red Pitaya’s deep memory acquisition functionality to enable high-speed data streaming directly to RAM, allowing larger data chunks to be processed efficiently. Data is then stored on disk at rates up to 2 million events per second per channel. With all 96 channels running concurrently, the total throughput reaches 192 million events per second, meeting the needs of high-speed continuous acquisition and large-scale data analysis.
Trigger synchronization across all 24 STEMlab devices is handled by the Click Shield, achieving synchronization accuracy within 60 nanoseconds. All acquired data is timestamped with 8 ns resolution, ensuring precise temporal alignment — both within individual devices and across the entire system.
Picture showing the 24 STEMlab in the mount case.
This high-speed, FPGA-based DAQ system provides a versatile, reliable, and modular solution for complex signal acquisition and processing tasks. It combines efficient hardware-level data processing, flexible expansion, and an open-source software stack, making it ideal for scientific research, industrial automation, and specialized applications such as nuclear fuel characterization. The system’s scalable design ensures redundancy, ease of maintenance, and robust performance in even the most data-intensive environments.
Source: Linus, Ros. A Compact, Multi-Channel High-Performance Data Acquisition System Built on Red Pitaya STEMlab, 2024
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