Themes > Science > Astronomy > Equipment and Devices > Radio Interformetry > Lag Cross-correlator Implementation


The X station digital sample stream enters a delay line at the right and the Y station digital sample stream enters another delay line at the left. Each Delay element delays the respective digital sample stream by 1 sample. Multiplier-accumulator modules (MAMs) accumulate and average X and Y samples at different X-Y relative delays to produce points in the lag domain that (roughly) trace out a sin(x)/x function (for a broad-band emission source). These lag domain data points are then Fast-Fourier Transformed (FFT) to the frequency domain to obtain the cross-power spectrum. More lag points or a longer lag chain will produce more frequency points in the cross-power spectrum. If only the total power in the spectrum is required, it can be obtained by finding the peak of the function in the lag domain without having to go to the frequency domain.

The correlated output from each interferometer in an antenna array can then be analyzed or combined to produce the desired result.


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