HAWAII SAM MICROCODE
Version haw425/6/7.asm
Operation Notes, Version 3, 1 December 1997.
Craig D Mackay.
Changes in this version: The initialisation is now handled
without direct reference to the HAWAII devices instead it is done
against the reference output. The code has an additional delay
built into each frame loop to ensure that the system can run at
full speed without producing DMA timeouts. There are now three
versions with different ranges of read-out speeds. They are:
haw425.asm 119 to 1090 KHz pixel rate (5 cycles)
haw426.asm 273 to 1500 KHz pixel rate (2 cycles)
haw427.asm 480 to 1714 KHz pixel rate (1 cycle)
This note is a simple users guide to the SAM microcode installed
in the 4100 Capella controller and used to drive the Rockwell
MCT IR arrays.
1. This version allows HAWAII or PICNIC arrays to be read out
in a variety of modes. It contains no VFG type clock pulses so
the section of pixcel.ini should look like:
[PDCI]
FrameExtraPixels=0
LineExtraPixels=0
2. All modes use the shutter command to delay the start of read-out
by the time shown in the Pixcel "Exposure duration"
dialog box. The read-out must be stopped and restarted to reset
this (earlier versions of PixCel allowed this to occur on-the-fly).
The shutter opening and closing timings are set up for a Vincent
Uniblitz 25 mm diameter type only.
3. At the beginning of every FOCUS or SEQUENCE operation the entire
device is reset.
Haw425.asm (5 cycles per integration period)
Displayed rate Actual rate electrons/DN
KHz KHz multiply by:
500 118 0.34
600 148 0.35
750 197 0.36
1000 292 0.37
1200 387 0.39
1333 463 0.40
1500 571 0.41
1714 755 0.44
2000 and above 1090 0.47
(note intermediate rates all work. Speeds and gain factors may
be interpolated)
Haw426.asm (2 cycles per integration period)
Displayed rate Actual rate electrons/DN
KHz KHz multiply by:
500 273 0.85
600 335 0.88
750 428 0.90
1000 600 0.95
1200 752 0.98
1333 862 1.00
1500 1000 1.03
1714 1190 1.10
2000 and above 1500 1.18
(note intermediate rates all work. Speeds and gain factors may
be interpolated. There are additional gain reductions as read
speed is increased, depending on the bandwidth of the on-chip
amplifier)
Haw427.asm (1 cycles per integration period)
Displayed rate Actual rate electrons/DN
KHz KHz multiply by:
500 500 1.70
600 600 1.75
750 750 1.80
1000 923 1.85
1200 1090 1.95
1333 1200 2.00
1500 1333 2.05
1714 1500 2.20
2000 and above 1714 2.35
(note intermediate rates all work. Speeds and gain factors may
be interpolated. There are additional gain reductions as read
speed is increased, depending on the bandwidth of the on-chip
amplifier)
In all modes, sub-array read-out is enabled. Use standard PixCel
methods to set a region of interest. Read-out then occurs with
that ROI, remembering that the starting X and Y positions and
the width and height is accurate modulo 8 only.
The initialisation file pixcel.ini is only loaded into PixCel
when it is first run, so if changes are made to pixcel.ini, the
PixCel program must be killed and reloaded. Also note that PixCel
marks pixcel.ini as "in use" so although your editor
might let you think you have just edited it, it may not actually
be updated on disk. This can be checked by looking at the USER
screen under PixCel. Pixcel.ini contains a section as follows:
[HEAD_CONTROL]
SHUTTER_PULSES=7,7
GROUNDING=FALSE
SHUTTER_TYPE=4
Different values of SHUTTER_TYPE allow different read-out modes
to be enabled as follows:
Type 2 The first line of the ROI is read out as you would expect from the
correct row, but subsequent data lines are read out from the same set of
pixels on the device. This is done by omitting the pulse that increments
the row count. Lines are read out until the ROI data set is complete.
One reset is done before the first line is read out but otherwise
none are done during this operation.
Type 4 Normal. The entire device or the selected ROI is read out without any
resets.
Type 8 Read-Reset-Read. The selected ROI or the full device is read out as
follows: The start (X,Y) is reached as normal, but only half the
requested pixels are read out in the row. Then that row is reset and the
same pixels are read again. The image recorded is the left hand half of
the selected ROI twice, with the left half of the image before reset, and
the right half after the reset. In order to read out the whole device in
this mode, pixcel.ini needs to be edited as follows:
[CCD_PROPERTIES]
VSPARE_B=128
VSPARE_A=128
CCD_TYPE=Unknown
VABD=64
VABG=64
VOG=89
VRD=71
VOD=163
NO_OF_SEGMENTS=1
CCD_GAIN=1.000
PARALLEL_TIMING=94,22
ACTIVE_AREA=0,0,512,512
CCD_HEIGHT=512
CCD_WIDTH=512
[CCD_READOUT]
BINNING_ENABLE=FALSE
FULL_PARALLEL_BIN=FALSE
FULL_SERIAL_BIN=FALSE
SENSITIVITY=0
PIXEL_RATE=9
REGIONS=0,0,0,512,512
Y_BIN=1
X_BIN=1
The values marked above in BOLD need to be changed to 1024
to allow this mode to function..
Shutter disabled flag This then defaults to Type 4 operation with a reset after each
line is read out. Note that the shutter enable flag is only picked up
with a stop/start operation, and cannot be picked up on the fly in the
version of PixCel used for these tests.
Different initialisation files. There are a number of initialisation
files (*.ini) files available. The names tell all about their
contents. All are made up of:
hawxcyqzm.ini where:
haw (HAWAII CHIP) xc (x=1-4 HAWAII detectors or chips) yq (y=1-4
quadrants) zm (z-2,4 or 8 mode). If the chip selected under "1c"
is not chip 1, then 1c(x) is the format.
CDM.