Radio Astronomy Data Transfer and eVLBI using KAREN

TL;DR

This paper evaluates data transfer protocols over KAREN for radio astronomy, demonstrating UDT's superior efficiency and successful real-time eVLBI data streaming without buffering.

Contribution

It introduces testing of new UDP protocols for radio astronomy data transfer and demonstrates real-time streaming capabilities over KAREN.

Findings

UDT protocol outperforms 'tsunami' and 'ftp' in efficiency

Successful real-time eVLBI data streaming without intermediate buffering

Enhanced connectivity for international radio astronomy collaborations

Abstract

Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) has been used to transfer large volumes of radio astronomical data between the Radio Astronomical Observatory at Warkworth, New Zealand and various international organizations involved in joint projects and VLBI observations. Here we report on the current status of connectivity and on the results of testing different data transfer protocols. We investigate new UDP protocols such as 'tsunami' and UDT and demonstrate that the UDT protocol is more efficient than 'tsunami' and 'ftp'. We also report on the tests on direct data streaming from the radio telescope receiving system to the correlation centre without intermediate buffering or recording (real-time eVLBI).