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Time Controller Series User Manual

Section 4: Getting Started

ID QUANTIQUE SA

1227 Geneva

T +41 22 301 83 71

[email protected]

22

Rue Eugène-Marziano 25

Switzerland

F +41 22 301 83 79

www.idquantique.com

4.2

Hardware Installation

Carry out the following steps to install the physical Time Controller unit, ready to power on and
operate with the host computer.

Warning: Electrostatic Shock Hazard

. Ensure all power connections are connected

to a ground socket. Failure to connect to ground the device creates a shock hazard
which may cause injury to the operator.

Warning: Trip Hazard

. Ensure all cables attached to the device are laud in a tidy

manner, fastened down if necessary. An untidied cable may represent a trip
hazard and cause injury to any users walking in the vicinity of the device.

Step 1

Place the Time Controller unit on a stable flat surface, in an environment meeting the
conditions specified in Section 3.1.3

–

Environmental Specification

.

Caution

: For optimal operation, ensure that the air inlet and air outlets are free of

any obstruction by at least 5 cm.

Step 2

Insert the supplied power cable into the power inlet on the rear panel of the device.

Step 3

Insert the other end of the supplied power cable into a grounded wall socket or
grounded uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Step 4

Insert the ethernet cable into the 1GB Ethernet port on the rear panel of the device.

Step 5

Connect the other end of the ethernet cable to the host computer.

Note

: ID Quantique recommends use of the supplied ethernet-to-USB adapter,

even if an ethernet port is available on the host computer. Use of the adapter will
facilitate a smoother experience in operating the Time Controller software.

Step 6

Lightly screw each SMA connector onto the relevant Input, Output or Start channel on
the front panel of the device.

Caution

: Do not forcibly attach an SMA connector onto an SMA port. This may

permanently damage the SMA cable in question.

The device can now be powered on safely (see Section 5.1

–

Powering the Time Controller on and

.

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Summary of Contents for SWISS QUANTUM+ Time Controller Series

Page 1: ... 301 83 71 info idquantique com Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com Document version V 1 10 0 EN G 190 0000 1 100 Copyright 2022 ID Quantique Redefining Measurement Time Controller Series User Manual ...

Page 2: ...ht 2022 ID Quantique All rights reserved This publication may not in whole or in part be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored in a retrieval system or translated in any form or by any means without prior written consent of ID Quantique except that a license is hereby granted to copy and reproduce this publication for internal use only Trademarks The acceptance of all trademarks is implied ...

Page 3: ...ety Precautions 12 2 2 1 Power supply specifications 12 2 2 2 Power cable 12 2 3 General Maintenance 13 2 4 Calibration verification and tests 13 3 System Overview 15 3 1 Product Specification 15 3 1 1 Functional Specification 15 3 1 2 Electrical Specification 16 3 1 3 Environmental Specification 17 3 1 4 Host Computer Configuration 17 3 1 5 Supplied Accessories 18 3 1 6 Software 18 3 2 Time Contr...

Page 4: ...enerator 39 6 1 4 SCPI Console 40 6 2 Settings and Configuration 41 6 2 1 Configuring Time Controller Settings 41 6 2 2 Configuring Start and Input Channels 42 6 2 3 Configuring Output Channels 43 6 3 Data Acquisition 45 6 3 1 Channel selection 45 6 3 2 Configuring Histogram Time Bins 45 6 3 3 Saving Data 46 6 3 4 Timestamp Data 47 6 3 5 Initiate Acquisition 49 6 4 Automating use of the Time Contr...

Page 5: ...roller Configuration Editor 72 8 5 Coincidence histogram configuration 74 8 6 Coincident Counter measurement configuration 75 9 Appendix SCPI Command Reference 77 9 1 Common Commands 78 9 2 Time Controller Commands 79 9 2 1 Device DEVIce 79 9 2 2 Input INPUt 80 9 2 3 Start STARt 81 9 2 4 Delay DELAy 82 9 2 5 Output OUTPut 83 9 2 6 Timestamp generator GENerator 84 9 2 7 Record generator RECord 85 9...

Page 6: ...Time Controller Series User Manual ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 6 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 7: ...a Time Controller Series device How to prepare a Time Controller for time correlation measurements How to install and use the Time Controller software How to begin integrating the Time Controller into your lab s software environment 1 2 Getting support Support for ID Quantique instrumentation is provided directly by ID Quantique SA and ID Quantique authorized and trained technical personnel To get...

Page 8: ... rights relating to use of information in this document 1 5 Warranty ID Quantique guarantees this equipment against defect in material and workmanship to meet applicable specifications under normal use for a period of twelve months from the date of original shipment unless otherwise specified in the contractual documentation During the warranty period ID Quantique will at its discretion repair rep...

Page 9: ...roducts id900 time controller Date Product Version Notes 22 July 2021 1 6 1 Major update to user manual 12 November 2021 1 7 0 New additions Multi device operation see Section 7 IP Address assignment see Section 4 3 3 3 13 May 2022 1 8 0 User Manual scope expanded to include both the existing ID900 and newly released ID1000 devices New remote command to turn device LEDs on and off Simplifications ...

Page 10: ...me Controller Series User Manual Section 1 About this manual ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 10 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 11: ...n cords and devices connected to it should be connected to a protective ground via a ground socket Any interruption of the protective grounding is a potential shock hazard and may cause personal injury Whenever the ground protection is impaired the unit is not to be used and must be secured against any accidental or unintended operation Certain components inside the unit e g capacitors may be char...

Page 12: ...se AC power source within the requirements given in Section 3 1 2 Electrical Specification 2 2 2 Power cable This unit uses an international safety standard three wire power cable This cable serves as a ground when connected to an appropriate AC power receptacle The type of power cable supplied with each unit is determined according to the country of destination The colour coding used in the elect...

Page 13: ...ll liquids on or into the unit If the unit does get wet turn off the power immediately and let the unit dry completely Clean the casing with a dry lint free cloth 2 4 Calibration verification and tests The Time Controller Series of detectors do not require any specific maintenance and are designed to offer reliable and accurate operation over their entire lifetime It is however recommended to chec...

Page 14: ...Time Controller Series User Manual Section 0 ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 14 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 15: ... when a start reference is required Use an SMA cable to connect a start signal output from a device to the start input in the Time Controller Inputs 1 4 These are a signal input channels Use an SMA cable to connect a signal output from a device to an input channel on the Time Controller If you have selected the Delay Generator license for your Time Controller these input channels may be inaccessib...

Page 16: ...testing and servicing the device Please do not attempt to use this port Power inlet Use this port to connect the power supply Extended I O This port is not operational at present 10 gigabit ethernet This port is not operational at present 3 1 2 Electrical Specification Before operating the Time Controller device ensure that the power supply meets the requirements given in Table 2 See Section 2 2 E...

Page 17: ...e device are laud in a tidy manner fastened down if necessary An untidied cable may represent a trip hazard and cause injury to any users walking in the vicinity of the device Caution For optimal operation ensure that the air inlet and air outlets are free of any obstruction by at least 5 cm 3 1 4 Host Computer Configuration The Time Controller must be connected to a host computer to operate See T...

Page 18: ...nfiguration to the region of delivery Ethernet cable Ethernet to USB adapter recommended for ease of operation USB memory stick with relevant device drivers software licenses and a PDF copy of this manual 3 1 6 Software Software allowing the operation of the Time Controller on the designated host computer can be found on the USB memory stick provided in the supplied accessories see Section 3 1 5 S...

Page 19: ...ccess to high resolution mode ID1000 1 ps resolution and 4 ps rms jitter for all five input channels ID900 13 ps resolution 5 7 ps rms jitter for input channels 1 to 4 only Option b PG Access to the internal FPGA logic to configure real time selection filters for up to four fold coincidences Option c 4OUT Access to the four output channels and the internal delay pulse generator functionality 2 Mas...

Page 20: ...ime Controller Series User Manual Section 3 System Overview ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 20 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 21: ...on of the Time Controller unit as well as the necessary supplied accessories see Section 3 1 5 Supplied Accessories Step 3 Ensure you have a host computer capable of operating the device see Section 3 1 4 Host Computer Step 4 Ensure that the area of use meets the electrical and environmental requirements see Sections 3 1 2 Electrical Specification and 3 1 3 Environmental Specification Step 5 Safel...

Page 22: ...tion 3 1 3 Environmental Specification Caution For optimal operation ensure that the air inlet and air outlets are free of any obstruction by at least 5 cm Step 2 Insert the supplied power cable into the power inlet on the rear panel of the device Step 3 Insert the other end of the supplied power cable into a grounded wall socket or grounded uninterruptible power supply UPS Step 4 Insert the ether...

Page 23: ...r does arise complete the remaining steps 5 and 6 Step 5 In Windows Explorer navigate to the directory software package location TimeController_Vx_y_z Redistributables Step 6 Install dotNetFx45_Full_setup exe 4 3 2 Time Controller Firmware Upon release of software updates the firmware embedded in the Time Controller may need to be updated To update the device firmware carry out the following steps...

Page 24: ... the Open file dialogue navigate to the directory software package location TimeController_Vx_y_z Step 8 Select and accept the file TimeController_Application_ESW_x_y_z swu for update where x_y_z is the version of the firmware being installed Caution Do not power off the Time Controller while the firmware update is in progress Step 9 Wait for the progress bar to reach 100 and the system to reboot ...

Page 25: ...he remaining steps can be ignored Failure if the update was not successful and if you are operating an ID900 Time Controller device proceed to Step 12 Following an unsuccessful firmware update and if you are operating an ID900 Time Controller device Step 12 With the device still powered on and connected to the host computer repeat Step 4 to Step 7 of this section Step 13 Select and accept the file...

Page 26: ...host computer and open the Time Controller application on the host computer Click on the About menu in the toolbar The IP address of a fully connected device will be shown in the resulting pop up window see Figure 3 Figure 3 How to find your Time Controller device s IP address if it is fully connected to the host computer 4 3 3 2 Via Printed Sticker If you are not able to find the device s IP addr...

Page 27: ...Time Controller device s IP address after following the instructions in this section please contact ID Quantique at support idquantique com for further support 4 3 3 3 Automated IP Address Assignment New in release 1 7 0 of the Time Controller software to support use of the Time Controller device over a local area network a dynamic IP address is additionally assigned to the Time Controller when it...

Page 28: ...ime Controller Series User Manual Section 4 Getting Started ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 28 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 29: ...f press the Power button on the front panel to power the device on Power off normal With the device powered on hold the Power button on the front panel for 2 to 5 seconds to power the device off Upon successful shutting down the cooling fan will cease operation Power off forced shutdown If the device is powered on but unresponsive hold the Power button on the front panel for more than 5 seconds to...

Page 30: ...abled and signal detected with no error Blinking amber single channel Channel enabled but no signal detected Single red flash single channel ____ Only in HiRes mode A single sampling error has occurred see Section 5 2 1 Input sampling errors Please follow the instructions in the GUI Solid flickering red single channel ________ Only in HiRes mode Multiple continuous sampling errors are occurring se...

Page 31: ...icators on press the Power button once Note Holding the Power button for 2 seconds or more will cause the Time Controller to shut down 5 2 1 Input sampling errors Input sampling errors indicated by a single flash on the input channel s LED indicator see Table 6 above may occur for the following reasons although only ever in High Resolution mode If using an ID900 Time Controller Series device when ...

Page 32: ...V to 3 V 3 V to 3 V Max input rate 5 x 100 MHz 300 MHz across all channels 125 MHz Max timestamp rate 10 M events s across all channels Min time bin width digital resolution 100 ps 1 ps RMS jitter timing precision 28 ps 4 ps 28 ps Including single channel counters coincidence counters and histogram processing Table 7 Specifications for ID1000 s input and output channels ID900 Time Controller Serie...

Page 33: ...used to output a signal from the Time Controller to another device or back into an input channel on the Time Controller This signal can be generated by the Time Controller or it can be an input signal that has been processed by the time controller and then output to a device The output channel can generate a NIM signal or a TTL signal For very fast signals NIM is preferable TTL must be used withou...

Page 34: ...al master clock of the Time Controller with the master clock of the external device Connect the Reference Clock OUT port to an external device to supersede the master clock of external device with the master clock of the Time Controller Connect the IN and OUT ports to connect several devices in a daisy chain Use an SMA cable to connect the reference clock of the Time Controller to the reference cl...

Page 35: ...nels and the availability of high resolution mode will depend on the license you have selected for your Time Controller see Section 3 1 6 Software 6 1 Navigating the Time Controller Software To begin using the Time Controller device after ensuring the Time Controller device is powered on and connected to the host computer open the Time Controller application installed in Section 4 3 1 Host Compute...

Page 36: ...ay pattern generator to configure the output signal for the output channels SCPI Console Use the SCPI Console to input SCPI commands to interact with the Time Controller device and to view the SCPI commands being pushed to the Time Controller device by the Time Controller GUI 6 1 2 Time to digital converter The Time to digital converter workspace is used to configure the parameters of the input de...

Page 37: ... 1 2 1 2 Coincidence histogram View a modified set of histograms useful for visually inspecting coincidence measurements see Section 6 1 2 2 3 Counters View the single detector count rates or the double triple or quadruple detection coincidence rates see Section 6 1 2 3 6 1 2 1 Start Stop histogram The data displayed in the Start Stop histogram presents the number of coincident detection events be...

Page 38: ...ble control the auto scaling of each axis and select linear or log 10 scaling for each graph axis with the settings tool Additionally you can inspect up to five windows of interest in the displayed histograms with the Cursors tool Figure 10 Histogram cursor control Select or deselect the check box next to each cursor in the dialogue to choose which will be visible Select the histogram that will be...

Page 39: ...e top of the Counters view select the check box next to Start 1 2 3 or 4 as appropriate and specify the duration for each measurement in the Integration window field To view coincident count rates the channels of interest are separated by a forward slash For example select 1 2 for double detector coincidences between channel 1 and 2 or 1 3 4 for triple detector coincidences between channels 1 3 an...

Page 40: ... SCPI Console workspace To issue SCPI commands to the Time Controller device type the command in the input field at the bottom of the workspace and click Send To load a previously saved device configuration click the folder icon on the right hand side and select the desired configuration file Device configuration files are generated by navigating to File Save Settings saving the current device set...

Page 41: ... Device IP This shows the IP address for the selected device Enter the IP Address for the relevant Time Controller here if you have not done so already Connect Press this button to connect to the selected device this may take 10 20 seconds The colour indicator will display the connection status o Red indicates that the device is not connected o Green indicates that the device is connected 6 2 1 2 ...

Page 42: ...ting the Coerce to safe delays checkbox the Time Controller software limits the input and output delays to a secure maximum of 4 microseconds each to prevent such an overflow If this option is disabled a delay field s text will be coloured when its value is above 4 microseconds Hovering the mouse over the coloured text will display a warning message stating the maximum event frequency that can be ...

Page 43: ...there are four pulse pattern generators that can each be configured and mapped to one or more output channels To produce a user created signal for one of the generators select Internal trigger and select the duration of a single period of the pattern in the Period field Figure 17 Delay pattern generator configuration view To generate a signal triggered by one of the input channels select External ...

Page 44: ...gure 18 Output channel configuration view Enable Flip the Enable toggle switch to activate green or deactivate grey an output channel Source Select the generator to be used in generating the signal from this output channel for the output a signal from the channel Voltage Select from NIM or TTL as appropriate for the device that is connected to the output channel o Note NIM signals have a minimum p...

Page 45: ...f timestamps can be recorded simultaneously At the top of the Start Stop histogram view in the Time to digital converter workspace select up to four histograms to be measured and the corresponding pairs of input channels If recording raw timestamps data corresponding to the pairs of input channels specified in the Start Stop histogram view will be recorded 6 3 2 Configuring Histogram Time Bins Use...

Page 46: ... It is not possible to save data in the Time Controller GUI after an acquisition is complete even if the data is plotted in the histogram workspace Current directory Select the folder you wish the measurement results to be saved to Histogram Timestamps Save Prior to running the acquisition to save the data to be collected select the Save checkbox in the Histogram and or Timestamps tab as appropria...

Page 47: ...sitions The user selects these channels as described in Section 6 3 1 Channel selection and ensures the Save checkbox and optionally the include start index checkbox is selected in the Timestamps tab of the Save options view see Figure 20 Note Timestamps are only recorded if the Save checkbox is selected in the Timestamps tab of the Save options view see Figure 20 and reference indices will only b...

Page 48: ...tten to a binary file or text file as follows with up to four files for up to four pairs of selected channels per acquisition Binary format bin Text format txt Without start index timestamp timestamp With start index timestamp index timestamp index Table 10 Format of data in Timestamp datafiles Caution Ensure the number of timestamps processed per second is lower than 10 million across all channel...

Page 49: ...quisition Use the Acquisition view to prepare and initiate a measurement Figure 23 Acquisition configuration view Acquisition time Set the duration time of the acquisition Before acquisition o Select the Clear checkbox to clear existing data at the start of the next acquisition Deselect the Clear checkbox to append the next acquisition s data onto the currently visible data After acquisition o Sel...

Page 50: ...Programmable Instruments SCPI Refer to Section 9 Appendix SCPI Command Reference for the full set of SCPI commands needed to operate the Time Controller SCPI commands are not case sensitive but they are often shown with a mixture of upper case and lower case characters Commands can be abbreviated by only sending the upper case characters For example the command asking for the counts measured on in...

Page 51: ...roller recv decode utf 8 print answer For further information refer to the example python scripts that can be found on the USB memory stick supplied in the delivery of the Time Controller device 6 4 4 Data Link Target Service The Data Link Target DLT Service run is responsible for the Time Controller s timestamps reception on the host computer The DLT binary is installed by the Time Controller GUI...

Page 52: ...ments IDQ Time Controller GUI version ScpiClient logs DataLinkTargetService log You don t need to close the DLT after running a timestamp acquisition but you will need to restart it to change the default timestamps directory or log path with the arguments described above For further information refer to the Appendix DLT Command Reference section and the python or LabVIEW timestamps acquisition exa...

Page 53: ...er such as the scripts for multi device acquisition detailed in this Chapter The Time Controller software only registers a change in a device parameter when the command is issued via the Time Controller GUI Therefore changes made outside of the GUI will not be reflected in the GUI and configuration conflicts may occur In cases of significant clashes the physical Time Controller unit may need to be...

Page 54: ..._multi_tc py script provides a command line interface with which to perform multi device acquisitions See Section 7 5 Execute Multi Device Acquisition for more information on configuring and using the timestamp_acquisition_multi_tc py acquisition command 7 2 2 Acquisition Configuration File The timestamp_acquisition_multi_tc py command requires an underlying configuration file to instruct the mult...

Page 55: ...he small timing uncertainty in the Time Controller s start pulse 40 ps rms jitter see Section 5 3 I O specifications results in a small but random relative shift in the acquisition start time as seen by each Time Controller an effect which increases for each subsequent level This start time shift does not affect the timing resolution of the data being recorded All devices except for those on the l...

Page 56: ...ce settings device name 2 device settings layout layout settings high_resolution Set the resolution mode the devices operate in o High resolution set resolution setting to true o High speed set resolution setting to false Acquisition in high resolution mode requires the MASTER HR or TCSPC HR licenses see Section 3 1 6 Software devices see Section 7 4 2 Device settings Each property of this object ...

Page 57: ... Controller see Section 7 4 2 2 Timestamps histogram Object specifying the histograms to be acquired on the given Time Controller see Section 7 4 2 2 Histograms inputs Object specifying the settings for each input channel on the given Time Controller see Section 7 4 2 1 Inputs devices device name 1 ip IP address timestamps timestamp settings histograms histogram settings inputs input settings 7 4 ...

Page 58: ...true or false timestamps are paired with reference indices see Section 6 3 4 Timestamp Data timestamps format datafile format acquisitions acquisition settings with_ref_index reference index setting Caution Ensure the number of timestamps processed per second is lower than 10 million summed across all channels on all devices If higher than 10 M events s the buffered timestamp events may overflow a...

Page 59: ...t see Section 7 4 2 Device settings wire_latency Expected latency in picoseconds of the wire connecting the device to its master green wires on the Figure 24 and Figure 25 The latency is around 30 picoseconds per 1cm of wire length agents Each property of this object defines another layout node i e the connected Time Controller its wire latency and agents The name of the property refers to the inp...

Page 60: ...cripts stored on the host computer see Section 7 2 Supporting Scripts it is now possible to perform multi device acquisition using the timestamp_acquisition_multi_tc py script The acquisition is executed through the timestamp_acquisition_multi_tc py script in a command line interface Open any command line console such as cmd exe in the script s directory and run the following command to print the ...

Page 61: ...cquisition log directory LOG_PATH by default in the script directory n N Specify the number N repetitions of the configured acquisition which are then stored in subdirectories under the output directory numbered from 1 to N v Tell the script to run in verbose mode 7 5 2 Execution example The following execution of timestamp_acquisition_multi_tc py script will Prepare to perform the measurements in...

Page 62: ... Controller Series User Manual Section 7 Multi Device Operation ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 62 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 63: ...and receiving data back though the ZMQ Zero Message Queue protocol This is supported by most programming languages and environments for example Python LabView MATLAB C C To achieve high throughput and low latency the Time Controller performs several of its functions in hardware blocks within the FPGA These can be configured and the signal can be routed across these blocks through text commands The...

Page 64: ...100 ps time resolution with 28 ps jitter see Section 5 3 2 Output channels 1 4 The external circuits TDCs and delay generators only handle the signal over a very short time 1 ns Larger time scales are fully managed by the FPGA A start input port signal can be used to set the zero time reference of the device If in High Resolution mode and an ID900 Time Controller is being operated make sure to use...

Page 65: ... better than 2ps 8 2 Logical Architecture The Time Controller s logical architecture consists of the logical blocks that are created in hardware within the FPGA There are 6 different block types Input Output Generator Combiner Histogram Raw Each of these blocks process signals in real time This architecture is linear and split into levels and timestamps are processed from left to right The default...

Page 66: ...rated internally from another block by selecting LOOP 8 2 1 2 Input INPU There are four input blocks labelled from 1 to 4 The INPUt block receives the signal from its corresponding input channel The signal can be transmitted as it is to the next block UNSHaped or modified to be a short pulse of 5 ns corresponding to the event SHAPed The INPUt block is also able to receive a signal generated intern...

Page 67: ...tween the rising edge of each pulse The Generator block operates by transitioning between 4 stages of its state machine Figure 28 Stage Description Transitions condition Next Stage IDLE Generator is disabled Enable the generator block WAITing WAITing Ready to play on demand Manually start to play the sequence PLAYing Manually arm the trigger ARMed Trigger arming mode set as AUTO ARMed ARMed Ready ...

Page 68: ...IRst and SECond are the two main block inputs The output of the TSCO gives the result of a logical operation between these two ports The available logical operations are AND OR ONLYFIR transmit only the data coming to FIRst ONLYSEC transmit only the data coming to SECond and MUTE nothing comes out These 2 ports can be connected to any blocks from level n 1 and n 2 BEGIn and END are the two block i...

Page 69: ... to build the histogram ENAB determines when the acquisition of data begins and ends It is controlled by the RECord generator HISTO DATA give back the histogram data computed directly on board The bin size and histogram bounds can be set 8 2 1 8 RAW data RAW Consist of three linkable block inputs REF is the reference of the histogram meaning every timestamp is calculated with respect to the last r...

Page 70: ...idth specified by the parameter PULSe WIDTh 8 3 Configuration examples To realize the following configurations text files with the list of SCPI command is included in the release package These files can be browsed in the SCPI console in the GUI or used in an external script Python LabView Start referenced timestamp filter The user only cares about events that happens within a time window of a give...

Page 71: ...ano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com Synchronized delay generation The user wants to generate pulses with the outputs of the Time Controller that operates at the same frequency but with a different delay From version 1 2 it is possible to have the same generator on all 4 output stages and chose to set the delay on each output stage up to 4ms ...

Page 72: ...ontroller Configuration Editor application Figure 29 Configuration Editor provides a graphical representation of the Time Controller internal configuration Figure 29 Configuration Editor Block visualization Blocks are represented by squares with the available LINK e g REF STOP ENAB The name of the block connected to each LINK is displayed outside the block in front of the corresponding LINK Select...

Page 73: ...blocks are displayed on the right side of the window This panel allows to display and edit the value of the block s properties When multiple blocks are selected same shared properties between blocks are grouped together For instance HIST shared commands between the HIST blocks ENAB command ENAB of INPU4 and OUTP4 This grouping permits fast edition of control of multiple blocks at the same time e g...

Page 74: ... release 8 5 Coincidence histogram configuration The Coincidence tab in the Time Controller software allows you to do coincidence histogram between 2 channels This mainly consists of a change of configuration in the SCPI blocks The configuration is changed when an acquisition is Run and the user switches between a coincidence histogram and start stop histogram The coincidence histogram configurati...

Page 75: ...well as coincidences triple coincidences and fourfold coincidences In the Coincidence histogram tab the configuration pushed to the Time Controller when an acquisition is run is These counters are displayed on bar indicators with the counters value on top the Counters rounding controls how the displayed value is rounded and over time through the bottom graph the Counters history settings control i...

Page 76: ...troller Series User Manual Section 8 Time Controller Configuration ID QUANTIQUE SA 1227 Geneva T 41 22 301 83 71 info idquantique com 76 Rue Eugène Marziano 25 Switzerland F 41 22 301 83 79 www idquantique com ...

Page 77: ...NAB is the same as INPUt1 ENABLe It can be queried by appending a question mark INPUt1 ENABle will return ON or OFF depending on the input status The commands have a default value that is underlined in this manual e g INPUt1 ENABle and INPUt1 ENABle ON are equivalent The commands sometimes have a numeric suffix to refer to different channels or blocks e g INPUt1 INPUt2 etc This is indicated by the...

Page 78: ...ee Input Output Description IDN text Machine identifier and version STATe states Returns the state of every functions blocks HELP SCPI commands Returns all the available SCPI commands OUTLoop Small block that allows to link the source blocks to the input blocks internally LINK address Select the address from which to take the timestamps stream LINK address Returns the linked address LINK ADDResses...

Page 79: ... links to NONE INIT restore initial configuration LICEnse text Returns the currently installed license NETWork ADDRess MANUal IPv4 address CIDR notation Set Time Controller manual static IP address for MANUal mode NETWork ADDRess MANUal IPv4 address CIDR notation Return the Time Controller manual static IP address for MANUal mode NETWork ADDRess MODE AUTO MANUal Set IP address allocation mode AUTO...

Page 80: ...k of the same label e g INPUt3 receives the signal from the OUTPut3 Input block INPU 1 4 Command tree Input Output Description INPUt Select input number ENABle ON OFF Enable disable input ENABle ON OFF COUNter number Returns the number of counts over the integration time CYCLE mode or since last RESEt ACCUM mode INTEgrationtime time in ms Set counter integration time only in CYCLE mode INTEgration...

Page 81: ...ctions leading to event loss on the impacted channel If the problem persists despite proper signal rate and input threshold try to recalibrate the device a power cycle might be required on some rare occurrences 9 2 3 Start STARt STARt block Command tree Input Output Description STARt ENABle ON OFF Enable Disable Start ENABle ON OFF COUNter number Returns the number of counts over the integration t...

Page 82: ...bout the SELECt function UNSHaped The received signal is transmitted by the input block for further processing without any change SHAPed The selected edge of the received signal is considered as the event This event is transmitted further by the START block by a 4 ns pulse LOOP the input block receives the data from the block linked to the OUTLoop block 9 2 4 Delay DELAy DELAy block DELA 1 8 Comma...

Page 83: ...tput level to NIM or TTL MODE NIM TTL LINK address Selects the block from which to take the timestamp stream LINK address LINK ADDResses list of addresses Returns the valid addresses to which this block can be connected PULSE ON OFF Enables the pulse mode of the output PULSE ON OFF PULSE WIDTH Pulse width in ps Pulse width in ps PULSE WIDTH Pulse width in ps DELAY delay in ps Set delay in ps DELAY...

Page 84: ...se width in ps pulse width in ps PWIDth pulse width in ps PPERiod period in ps Separation between pulses in ps PPERiod period in ps PNUMber Number Number of pulses from 1 to 65535 or INF or 0 for an infinite sequence PNUMber number PLAY Force generator into Playing stage STOP Force generator out of Playing stage TRIGger ARM MODE AUTO MANUal Set the trigger arming mode of the generator ARM MODE AUT...

Page 85: ...B ON PNUM 15 PPER 10000 PWID 4000 TRIG LINK DELA1 ARM MODE AUTO SCPI command to combine the above two examples producing a 15 pulse sequence once every microsecond GEN1 TRIG LINK GEN5 9 2 7 Record generator RECord Control the acquisition time of HISTogram and RAW blocks Apart from this specialized task the RECord block work as any other GENerator block and shares the exact same set of commands To ...

Page 86: ...ly for CYCLE mode INTEgrationtime time in ms Returns integration time MODE CYCLE ACCUM Select the counter mode MODE CYCLE ACCUM Returns the counter mode RESEt Reset counter to 0 OPIN ONLYFIR ONLYSEC AND OR MUTE Set the operation performed inside the windows For details refer to information below the table OPIN ONLYFIR ONLYSEC AND OR MUTE OPOUt ONLYFIR ONLYSEC AND OR MUTE Set the operation performe...

Page 87: ...RISING FALLING DELAY delay in ps Add a delay to the windows begin Max value 4 ms DELAY delay in ps END LINK address Block to connect to this port LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses EDGE RISING FALLING EDGE RISING FALLING DELAY delay in ps Add a delay to the windows end Max value 4 ms DELAY delay in ps STATe State of the block Additional information about the Operations OPIN OPOU...

Page 88: ...esses STOP FILTer RISIng FALLing ALL Type of edge to consider as stop event FILTer RISIng FALLing ALL LINK address Select the source block from which timestamps are from LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses ENABle LINK address Select the source block from which the timestamps are LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses MINimum time Minimum histogram value in ps MINim...

Page 89: ...W REF LINK address Select the source block from which the timestamps are LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses STOP LINK address Select the source block from which the timestamps are LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses ENABle LINK address Select the block to which the timestamps are from LINK address LINK ADDResses addresses Valid addresses NUMerator 1 100 Multipl...

Page 90: ... start save Description Open an acquisition which saves timestamps in a file on disk Command start save Arguments id ID Optional Associates ID to the newly opened acquisition If this argument is omitted a unique ID is automatically generated address ADDR IP Address ADDR of the target Time Controller channel CHAN Channel CHAN to acquire filename PATH Full or relative path to the timestamps file If ...

Page 91: ... acquisition to stop Answer Returns the status see status command for more detail of the closed acquisition Answer example status acquisitions_count 1 errors inactivity 1 054841 timestamps_count 0 10 2 4 list Description List currently opened acquisitions Command list Arguments Answer List of opened acquisitions Answer example 10 98 99 7 5556 10 98 99 7 5557 10 98 99 7 5558 10 98 99 7 5559 10 2 5 ...

Page 92: ...ity 1 124206 timestamps_count 0 The status reported values allows for a basic monitoring of an ongoing acquisition acquisition_count should be equal to number of desired records defined by the SCPI command RECord NUMber and usually equals 0 during the acquisition and 1 upon its completion errors should be an empty list inactivity should not exceed a few seconds after the end of the acquisition Thi...

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