A reconfigurable optically connected beamformer and correlator processing node for SKA

For many decades Digital Signal Processing (DSP) nodes have been designed for processing digital data received from arrays of radio telescopes. Common threads in all these nodes are: digital communications, processing and memory. Fundamentally the aim of each system was to provide the greatest operational capability for the technology available at that time. As the systems grew in size it became apparent that a key performance indicator was how processing nodes communicated. Poor communication could result in delayed schedules, reduced operational performance and higher system costs. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project represents a quantum leap in system size relative to current radio astronomy telescopes. This paper explores current work in this area and introduces the possibility of a fully optically connected processing and memory node. Such a node could be utilized for multi-stage polyphase filterbanks, beamforming and correlation. The application presented here is radio astronomy, but it could also be applied to defence and telecommunication systems.