Amptek PC5 User Manual - Page 3
Browse online or download pdf User Manual for Computer Hardware Amptek PC5. Amptek PC5 13 pages.
Print Page1.2
DP5 Family
Amptek has a family of products built around its core DP5 digital pulse processing technology,
designed for pulse height spectroscopy. It was originally designed for the detection of ionizing radiation,
principally X‐ray and gamma‐ray spectroscopy. A generic system, illustrated below, includes (a) a
sensor, a.k.a. detector, (b) a charge sensitive preamplifier, (c) analog prefilter circuitry, (d) an ADC, (e) an
FPGA which implements pulse shaping and multichannel analysis, (f) a communications interface, (g)
power supplies, (h) data acquisition and control software, and (i) analysis software.
Detector and
Analog
Preamplifier
Prefilter
Digital Processor (DPP)
Figure 2. Generic spectroscopy system
The core DP5 technology shared by all the systems includes the ADC, the FPGA, the communication
interface, and the data acquisition and control software. All products in the DP5 product family include
nearly the same digital signal processing algorithms, the same communication interfaces (both the
primary serial interfaces and the auxiliary I/O), and use the same data acquisition and control software.
The DPPMCA software package is a complete, compiled data acquisition and control software package
used across the family; Amptek also offers an SDK for custom software solutions.
The products in the DP5 family differ in the sensor for which they are designed, which leads to
changes in the analog prefilter, power supplies, and form factor. They also differ in their completeness:
some of Amptek's products are "complete" while others offer only a portion of the functionality for the
user to integrate into a complete system.
Amptek has written a "User Manual for Amptek's DP5 Product Family" which summarizes those
characteristics that are common across the entire DP5 family. This manual concentrates on only those
aspects which are unique to the PC5 circuit board.
1.3
Options and Variations
Configurations
The PC5 was designed so that it can be configured to support a wide variety of detectors. Some
parameters can be set via software commands, through the DP5 (i.e. the HV bias voltage or the
detectors temperature). Many other configuration options are set via hardware jumpers or minor
changes to the components on the core board (changes to the Bill‐of‐Materials). These BOM changes
are indicated by a set of configuration indicators.
Your
Products for
Imagination
Digital Pulse Shaping
Slow
ADC
Channel
Fast
Channel
Peak Detect
Histogram Logic
Interface
Counters
Pulse
Selection
3
C and
Computer
Auxiliary
Oscilloscope or
Signals
external logic