%0 Journal Article %1 Oberschulte_2021 %A Oberschulte, T. %A Wendrich, T. %A Blume, H. %D 2021 %I IOP Publishing %J Journal of Instrumentation %K 2021 myown %N 11 %P P11016 %R 10.1088/1748-0221/16/11/p11016 %T FPGA-based low-cost synchronized fiber network for experimental setups in space %U https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/16/11/p11016 %V 16 %X Custom experiment setups in physics often require control electronics to execute actions and measurements on a small time scale. When further constraints limit the experiment's environment, for example when the experiment is inside a sounding rocket, conventional network systems will not suffice those constraints because of weight, heat or budget limitations. This paper proposes a network architecture with a time resolution of less than 1 ns over a pair of plastic fibers while using low-cost commercial hardware. The plastic fibers in comparison to copper fibers have a low weight and additionally can isolate parts of the setup galvanically. Data rates of 40 Mbit s-1 enable the network to transfer large amounts of measurements and configuration data over the network. Proof-of-concept implementations of network endpoints and switches on small FPGAs are analyzed in terms of synchronicity, data rate and resource usage. Using commercial parts the resolution of 1 ns is reached with a standard deviation of less than 100 ps. Compared to a copper wire implementation the weight is reduced by about one order of magnitude. With its low weight at a low cost, the network is useful in space or laboratory setups which require high time resolution.

@article{Oberschulte_2021, abstract = {Custom experiment setups in physics often require control electronics to execute actions and measurements on a small time scale. When further constraints limit the experiment's environment, for example when the experiment is inside a sounding rocket, conventional network systems will not suffice those constraints because of weight, heat or budget limitations. This paper proposes a network architecture with a time resolution of less than 1 ns over a pair of plastic fibers while using low-cost commercial hardware. The plastic fibers in comparison to copper fibers have a low weight and additionally can isolate parts of the setup galvanically. Data rates of 40 Mbit s-1 enable the network to transfer large amounts of measurements and configuration data over the network. Proof-of-concept implementations of network endpoints and switches on small FPGAs are analyzed in terms of synchronicity, data rate and resource usage. Using commercial parts the resolution of 1 ns is reached with a standard deviation of less than 100 ps. Compared to a copper wire implementation the weight is reduced by about one order of magnitude. With its low weight at a low cost, the network is useful in space or laboratory setups which require high time resolution.}, added-at = {2022-02-23T17:38:50.000+0100}, author = {Oberschulte, T. and Wendrich, T. and Blume, H.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2b1db6421be2ecb09c8b2fb6ecbddd9d9/imsl3s}, doi = {10.1088/1748-0221/16/11/p11016}, interhash = {22dc194282a50994eac688784598b34a}, intrahash = {b1db6421be2ecb09c8b2fb6ecbddd9d9}, journal = {Journal of Instrumentation}, keywords = {2021 myown}, month = nov, number = 11, pages = {P11016}, publisher = {{IOP} Publishing}, timestamp = {2022-02-23T17:38:50.000+0100}, title = {{FPGA}-based low-cost synchronized fiber network for experimental setups in space}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/16/11/p11016}, volume = 16, year = 2021 }