A Modular Zero-Dead-Time Data Acquisition and Real-Time GPU Processing Platform for High Throughput Physics Experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a modular, GPU-based data acquisition platform capable of continuous, zero-dead-time processing at high sampling rates, significantly enhancing real-time physics experiment data handling.

Contribution

The authors develop a scalable, software-defined system integrating PCIe digitizers and consumer GPUs for high-throughput, real-time data processing with validated zero-dead-time performance.

Findings

Supports sampling rates up to 500 MSa/s and data throughputs of 1 GB/s.

Achieves fractional data loss below 10^-12 in phase continuity tests.

Operates continuously for over a month with stable long-term performance.

Abstract

High-throughput physics experiments require efficient and increasingly complex real-time processing. This paper presents a modular, software-defined platform combining high-bandwidth PCIe digitizers with consumer GPUs to achieve continuous, zero-dead-time data acquisition. Utilizing NVIDIA CUDA, the system provides a scalable pipeline for real-time fast Fourier transforms and statistical averaging. Benchmarks demonstrate that the platform can sustain continuous processing at sampling rates up to 500 MSa/s, effectively managing data throughputs of 1 GB/s. To validate the in-situ zero-dead-time architecture, end-to-end phase continuity tests were conducted, constraining fractional data loss to below $10^{-12}$. Furthermore, long-term system stability was demonstrated through an uninterrupted one-month data acquisition run. In its current deployment for the WISPLC dark matter experiment, the platform operates at 124 MSa/s with a resolution bandwidth of 0.1 Hz. This implementation enabled a significant reduction in data storage requirements using real-time spectral averaging. The callback-driven software architecture, multi-GPU workload distribution, and custom hardware shielding solutions are detailed, establishing this platform as a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional hardware-based pipelines.