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A. van Ardenne

SKADS CoördinatorASTRON, P.O. Box 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo

The Netherlands (info@skads-eu.org)

www.skads-eu.org

SKADS; The European Design Study towards the Square Kilometer Array

The next giant leap in RadioAstronomy

A European projectinvolving 29 partners from Radio Astronomy

Institutes, Universities and Industry in 8 EU countries plus Russia, S.A., Austr & Can.

A Cohering Program towards 2009

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Why Build the SKA;Key Science Projects

probing the dark ages before the universe lit up

the evolution of galaxies and large scale structure in the universe (equation of state of dark energy)

strong field tests of gravity using pulsars and black holes

the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism

the cradle of life; movies of planetary formation; ETI

+

exploration of the unknown

•SKA science case (eds: C. Carilli, S Rawlings) published by Elsevier in New Astronomy Reviews, vol 48, pp989-1163, December 2004 (see also www.skatelescope.org)

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Square Kilometre Array

SKA combines extremely powerful survey capability with targeted research capability to follow up individual

objects with high angular and time resolution

~1 km2 collecting area; sensitivity ~100 x currently most powerful telescope

survey speed is 10000 x faster

than VLA

wide frequency range: 0.1 – 25 GHz (goal)

wide field of view: ≥1 sq. degree at 1.4 GHz (5 x area of moon) goal: many tens of sq. deg.

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Possible SKA sitings (ranking on scientific merit in 2006)

20% of total collecting area within 1 km diameter50% of total collecting area within 5 km diameter75% of total collecting area within 150 km from core maximum baselines at least 3000 km from array core

Western Australia

South Africa

Argentina

China

KARST

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Square Kilometre Array

goal of multi-beam instrument at lower frequencies

construction cost 1000 M€; operating cost 100 M€ per year

“born global”; now >50 institutes in 17 countries actively involved

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The SKA Design Reference Concept

Aperture phased arrays

Small diameter dishes Key: Small D(iameter) large N(umber of Stations)

Major technical challenge for the SKA: reduce cost/m2 by a factor of 10 compared with current telescopes

Aperture array tilesSmall dishes with

smart feeds in focus

SKA LowBandSKA High Band

0.1 GHz ~1 GHz 25 GHz

SKA Frequency Range

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Antenna Station

Electronic BeamformingSignal ProcessingRFI mitigation andCalibration

Image formation

SKADS; the SKA Low Band

Antenna Tile

Received radio signal

CentralProcessor Station

Processing~750T-op/sec

Data transport:fiber links ~75 Gbps

Low-cost, wideband, sensitive dense arrays for aperture and focal planes Fast, long-distance, data transportHigh performance DSP & computing hardwareNew data processing and visualization techniques

Industry liaison – Pre-competitive alliances +

procurement + project delivery

SKADS challenges & innovations

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SKADS Main Objectives

SKADSUKJBOAvA171204

DS 2Science and

Astronomical DataSimulations

DS 3The Network and

its Output Data

DS 8Overall System Design and

Preliminary SKA Plan

DS4Technical Foundations and

Enabling Technologies

DS-5Aperture Array Demonstrator“EMBRACE”

DS 6Cylindrical Concept

Demonstrator

DS 1Management of the Design Study “SKADS”

DS 7Assessment of Work

JIVE

UCambridge

ASTRON

UMan

ASTRON IRA

OdP

UMan

StudiesScience Level (DS2)System Level (DS3, 7, 8)

TechnologiesTile level (DS4)Array Level(DS5& 6)System Level(DS3)

Demonstrators

• A 40M€ program (incl. 10M€ EC) to

– Prove “R&D” Readiness

– Make a convincing case regarding the use of array technologies for Radio Astronomy

– Target the costing issue head-on

FP6 DS Structure: Blue = Technical Preparatory

workYellow= Feasibility Studies

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EMBRACE; a SKADS Demonstrator

• 400 tiles 1sqm distributed over two locations Westerbork and Nancay

• Frequency range: 450- 1420 MHz • 4 independent FOV´s beams (goal), 4 digital beams/FOV • Station Processing ~5-10 Tops/sec • Adaptive beamforming (deterministic & adaptive)