Instrument Control Systems 2014 NGC controller Leander Mehrgan

ESO precursor controller IR data acquisition system and ACE as optical controller IRAC camera and its controller 1987 ACE controller at NTT La Silla Sequencer programming language: Assembler

IRACE, InfraRed Array Control Electronics In 1994 the Infrared Detector Group started with the development of the IRACE controller.

IRACE, InfraRed Array Control Electronics In 1994 the Infrared Detector Group started with the development of the IRACE controller. IRACE Giga board for data transfer with one Gigabit per second

IRACE, InfraRed Array Control Electronics First light with ISAAC in 1998. From 1998 to 2008 IRACE was the ESO standard controller for InfraRed application. This controller was based on Transputer processors. gigabit fiber for data low speed fiber for command

FIERA, Fast Imager Electronic Readout Assembly In 1995 the Optical Detector Team (ODT) started with the development of the FIERA controller. clock board 4 channel video board Communication board

FIERA, Fast Imager Electronic Readout Assembly From 1998 to 2008 FIERA was the ESO standard controller for Optical application. This controller was based on DSP processors. FIERA 16 output video channels for NAOS chip

FIERA and IRACE are still used by many instruments at ESO telescopes Using IRACE controller Using FIERA controller ISAAC CONICA CRIRESS UVES NACO HAWK-I GIRAFFE SOFI SINFONI VISIR FINITO FORS X-SHOOTER EMMI IRIS PRIMA VINCI OmegaCAM VIMOS VISTA X-SHOOTER

ESO detector controller Both controller have been extremely successful. but various limitations, e.g.: mass (OmegaCAM: ¼ ton), volume, heat dissipation obsolete components voltage range and swing speed, number of channels 2 successes (= 2 costs) Therefore …. Make new design, taking advantage of new technologies Do it as a joint IR+ODT effort, merging all past experience

NGC, New General detector Controller Both development teams, FIERA and IRACE, merged into one team, the NGC. In 2004 the NGC team started with a new design. Features of the NGC: No parallel bus system, only high speed serial links Central element on each board is a Xilinx FPGA Digital parts, like RAMs, FIFOs, and the sequencer are fully implemented in the FPGA Data and commands time multiplexed transferring

Different type of NGCs SCI-NGC: the scientific NGC, which is used for all type of detectors AO-NGC: used to readout the e2v CCD220 detector with a very compact, high speed integrated controller. The same back-end interface is used for both NGC types. Core of the SCI-NGC WFS camera (AO-NGC)

Different type of housing The NGC provides different type of housing: Compact (no water cooling) Fanless housing (needed for GRAVITY and MATISSE) Six-slot (with water cooling)

NGC interface to other systems The NGC controller provides a direct interface to the SPARTA and VxWorks based Power PC systems. Needed for GRAVITY, GRAAL, GALACSI instruments NGC DCS GUI NGC RTD SPARTA RTD

NGC, New General detector Controller The NGC controller is a modular, customizable system AQ-32ch module 10 MHz Backplane FEB module Transition module Visible NIR MID-IR Visible WFS

NGC, New General detector Controller Just like “Lego” blocks we can combine different modules to cover our needs. Basic board Video board-10MHz Basic interface board Video interface board Fiber cable Power supply box Power supply cable A system like this has been using to readout the SAPHIRA detector of the GRAVITY instrument PCIexpress LLCU

NGC, New General detector Controller Just like “Lego” blocks we can combine different modules to cover our needs. MUSE I MUSE II MUSE III MUSE IV MUSE NGC system readouts 24 CCD detectors simultaneously

Status of the NGC NGC systems are already being used by many instruments Since 2012 also operational at the telescopes. GALACSI / GRAAL VISIR MATISSE AQUARIUS MID-IR NIR AO MID-IR NGC SAPHIRA NIR WFS GRAVITY NIR NIR Visible Visible Visible WFS SPHERE MUSE

Summary ESO has a long history of developing and maintaining its own controller, one of the reasons behind NGC success The NGC is now in routine operation at the VLT and has reached a very high level of maturity It is very adaptable and continues to meet all instrumentation needs With the SCI-NGC and AO-NGC combinations, ESO is able to readout any type of detector Having the NGC as a uniform controller platform at the observatory, we have an extremely useful and maintenance friendly systems on the mountain. With further development the NGC will meet the requirements of detectors for the ELT

Thank you very much for your attention