AlazarTech ATS9146 User manual

ATS9146 User Manual
14-Bit, 2-Channel, 125 M
S/s
Waveform Digitizer for PCI Express Gen 1 Bus

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual i
Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies. All rights reserved.
Alazar Technologies, Inc. Contact Information
AlazarTech, Inc.
6600 Trans-Canada Highway, Suite 310
Pointe-Claire, QC
Canada H9R 4S2
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.alazartech.com
To comment on the documentation for ATS9146, send an email to
[e-mail]
Information required when contacting AlazarTech for technical support:
Owned by:
Serial Number:
Purchase Date:
Purchased From:
Software Driver Version:
SDK Version:
ATS-GPU Version:
AlazarDSO Version:
Operating System:

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ii ATS9146 User Manual
Important Information
Warranty
The AlazarTech ATS®9146 is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for
a period of one year from the date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other
documentation. Alazar Technologies Inc. (hereafter “AlazarTech”) will, at its option,
repair or replace equipment that proves to be defective during the warranty period. This
warranty includes parts and labor.
The media on which you receive AlazarTech software are warranted not to fail to execute
programming instructions, due to defects in materials and workmanship, for a period of
90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation.
AlazarTech will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute
programming instructions if AlazarTech receives notice of such defects during the
warranty period. AlazarTech does not warrant that the operation of the software shall be
uninterrupted or error free.
A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and
clearly marked on the outside of the package before any equipment will be accepted for
warranty work. AlazarTech will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner parts that
are covered by warranty.
AlazarTech believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has
been carefully reviewed for technical accuracy. In the event that technical or
typographical errors exist, AlazarTech reserves the right to make changes to subsequent
editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this edition. AlazarTech may
also make improvements and/or changes in the products and/or programs described in
this document at any time. The reader should consult AlazarTech if errors are suspected.
In no event shall AlazarTech be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this
document or the information contained in it. The latest user manual can be found on the
AlazarTech web page at www.alazartech.com/support/downloads.
EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN, ALAZARTECH MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMER’S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES
CAUSED BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF ALAZARTECH SHALL BE LIMITED
TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER. ALAZARTECH WILL NOT BE
LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, USE OF PRODUCTS,
OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
THEREOF. This limitation of the liability of AlazarTech will apply regardless of the form of
action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence. Any action against AlazarTech
must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. AlazarTech shall not
be liable for any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual iii
warranty provided herein does not cover damages, defects, malfunctions, or service
failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the AlazarTech installation, operation, or
maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or
negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties,
or other events outside reasonable control.
Copyright
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an
information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written
consent of AlazarTech.
Registered Trademarks
AlazarTech®, AlazarTech ATS®, AlazarDSO®, AlazarStream®, and AlazarPC®are
registered trademarks of Alazar Technologies Inc. MATLAB is a trademark and/or
registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. LabVIEW is a trademark and/or registered
trademark of National Instruments. Windows and Windows Server are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Linux
is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. CUDA is a trademark and/or registered
trademark of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. AMD EPYC is a
trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product and company names
mentioned herein are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their
respective owners.
Warning Regarding Use of AlazarTech Products
ALAZARTECH PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING FOR A
LEVEL OF RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL
IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE
FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY
TO A HUMAN.
IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE
SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY, COMPUTER HARDWARE
MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF
COMPILERS AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION,
INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS,
MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES,
TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE),
UNANTICIPATED USES OR MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR
APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER
COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
iv ATS9146 User Manual
FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE
RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE
FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID
DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE
REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH END-
USER SYSTEM IS CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM ALAZARTECH’s TESTING PLATFORMS
AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE ALAZARTECH PRODUCTS
IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR
CONTEMPLATED BY ALAZARTECH., THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS
ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF
ALAZARTECH. PRODUCTS WHENEVER ALAZARTECH PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN
A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE
DESIGN, PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual v
Compliance
FCC/Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Standard (ICES-003)
Compliance*
Determining FCC Class
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless
communications from interference. The FCC places digital electronics into two
classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial
locations only) or Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations).
Depending on where it is operated, this product could be subject to restrictions
in the FCC rules. (In Canada, the department of Innovation, Science and
Economic Development (ISED), regulates wireless interference in much the
same way).
Digital electronics emit weak signals during normal operation that can affect radio,
television, or other wireless products. By examining the product you purchased,
you can determine the FCC Class and therefore which of the two FCC/ISED
Warnings apply in the following sections. (Some products may not be labeled at
all for FCC; if so, the reader should then assume these are Class A devices).
FCC Class A products only display a simple warning statement of one paragraph
in length regarding interference and undesired operation. Most of our products
are FCC Class A. The FCC rules have restrictions regarding the locations where
FCC Class A products can be operated.
FCC Class B products display either an FCC ID code, starting with the letters
EXN, or the FCC Class B compliance mark.
Consult the FCC website www.fcc.gov for more information.
FCC/ISED Warnings
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed
and used in strict accordance with the instructions in this manual and the CE
Mark Declaration of Conformity**, may cause interference to radio and
television reception. Classification requirements are the same for the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and Innovation, Science and Economic
Development (ISED) Canada.
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by AlazarTech could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment under the FCC/ISED Rules.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
vi ATS9146 User Manual
Class A
Federal Communications Commission
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class
A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed
to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the
equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to
cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the
interference at his own expense.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian
Interference-Causing Equipment Standard (ICES-003). Cet appareil numérique
de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel
brouilleur du Canada.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual vii
Compliance to EU Directives
Readers in the European Union (EU) must refer to the Manufacturer's
Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for information** pertaining to the CE Mark
compliance scheme. The Manufacturer includes a DoC for most every hardware
product except for those bought for OEMs, if also available from an original
manufacturer that also markets in the EU, or where compliance is not required
as for electrically benign apparatus or cables.
To obtain the DoC for this product, click Declaration of Conformity at
www.alazartech.com/support/documents.htm. This web page lists all DoCs by
product family. Select the appropriate product to download or read the DoC.
* Certain exemptions may apply in the USA, see FCC Rules §15.103
Exempted devices, and §15.105(c). Also available in sections of CFR 47.
** The CE Mark Declaration of Conformity will contain important
supplementary information and instructions for the user or installer.
Environmental Compliance
Alazar Technologies Inc., hereby certifies that this product is RoHS compliant, as
defined by Directive 2015/863/EU (RoHS 3) of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 31 March 2015 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous
substances in electrical and electronic equipment. All manufacturing has been
done using RoHS-compliant components and lead-free soldering.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
viii ATS9146 User Manual
Table of Contents
Important Information .................................................................ii
Compliance.................................................................................v
Table of Contents ..................................................................... viii
Change Log ............................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1
About Your ATS9146 ....................................................................2
ATS9146 Export Control Classification ............................................3
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9146 .................................................4
Optional Upgrades .......................................................................7
CHAPTER 2 INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION .................. 8
What You Need to Get Started.......................................................9
Unpacking ................................................................................10
Installing the ATS9146 in Windows ..............................................11
Installing the ATS9146 in a Linux System .....................................19
Updating ATS9146 Driver ...........................................................23
Updating ATS9146 Firmware in Windows ......................................24
Updating ATS9146 Firmware in a Linux System..............................30
CHAPTER 3 HARDWARE OVERVIEW ....................................... 37
Physical Overview......................................................................39
Status LEDs ..............................................................................41
Signal Connections ....................................................................44
Analog Input.............................................................................45
Calibration................................................................................ 47
Optional External Clock ..............................................................48
Optional Extended Warranty........................................................50
CHAPTER 4 SPECIFIC FEATURES ............................................ 51
Streaming Data Across the Bus....................................................52
Stream To Memory ....................................................................59
Triggering.................................................................................60
APPENDIX A - SPECIFICATIONS ............................................. 61
APPENDIX B - BENCHMARKS................................................... 67

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual ix
Change Log
This is the first edition of this manual

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
This chapter describes the ATS9146 and lists additional equipment.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
2 ATS9146 User Manual
About Your ATS9146
Thank you for your purchase of an ATS9146. This PCI Express (PCIe Gen 1 x1)
based waveform digitizer has the following features:
•Two 14-bit resolution analog input channels
•Real-time sampling rate of up to 125 MS/s
•Up to 128 million samples of on-board acquisition memory per channel
•Streaming of acquired data to PC host memory at 200 MB/s
•65 MHz (for 50 Ωinput) analog input bandwidth
•Half-length PCI Express (1-lane) card
•Analog external trigger channel with software-selectable level, slope, and
hysteresis
•Software-selectable AC/DC coupling and 1 MΩ / 50 Ωinput impedance
•Pre-trigger capture with Multiple Record capability. Limited pre-trigger
capture.
•NIST- or CNRC-traceable calibration
•Custom DMA engine for best latency protection against Windows and Linux
operating systems
•Fully asynchronous software driver for fastest DMA with least CPU
overhead
All ATS9146 digitizers follow industry-standard Plug and Play specifications on all
platforms and offer seamless integration with compliant systems.
Detailed specifications of the ATS9146 digitizers are listed in Appendix A -
Specifications.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual 3
ATS9146 Export Control Classification
According to the Export Controls Division of Government of Canada, ATS9146 is
currently not controlled for export from Canada. Its export control classification
is N8, which is equivalent to ECCN EAR99. ATS9146 can be shipped freely
outside of Canada, with the exception of countries listed on the Area Control List
and Sanctions List. Furthermore, if the end-use of ATS9146, in part or in its
entirety, is related to the development or deployment of weapons of mass
destruction, AlazarTech is obliged to apply for an export permit.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
4 ATS9146 User Manual
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9146
You can acquire data either programmatically by writing an application for your
ATS9146 or interactively with the AlazarDSO software for Windows or with
AlazarFrontPanel for Linux.
Note that AlazarFrontPanel has a limited feature set.
If you want to integrate the ATS9146 in your test and measurement or
embedded OEM application, you can program the digitizer using C/C++, Python,
MATLAB or LabVIEW for Windows or Linux operating systems.
Windows operating systems supported are Windows 10, Windows 8,
Windows 7 with security update KB3033929 (SHA-2 Code Signing Support),
Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2010, and Windows Server 2008
R2. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems are supported.
Microsoft support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 ended on
January 14, 2020. As such, AlazarTech ceased development on
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as of this date. We will continue
to support customers using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
until December 31, 2020. After this date, no support will be provided.
AlazarTech offers ATS9146 Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS)
drivers for the following Linux distributions: CentOS, Debian, and
Ubuntu.
Users can download the DKMS driver for their specific distribution by
choosing from the available drivers here:
ftp://[email protected]om/outgoing/linux
Only 64-bit Linux operating systems are supported.
AlazarTech DKMS drivers may work for Linux distributions other than CentOS,
Debian, and Ubuntu, but they have not been tested and technical support may
be limited.
For using a programming language to acquire data from your ATS9146, you
must purchase the ATS-SDK package.

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ATS9146 User Manual 5
Interactively Controlling your ATS9146
The AlazarDSO oscilloscope emulation software for Windows allows you to
interactively control your ATS9146 as you would a desktop oscilloscope.
Under Linux, the AlazarFrontPanel application is available.
Note that Alazar Front Panel has a limited feature set.

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6 ATS9146 User Manual
ATS-SDK API
The ATS-SDK API is used for programming the ATS9146 in C/C++, C#,
LabVIEW, MATLAB and Python. It provides the exact same API that is used for
writing AlazarDSO software. To help you get started, ATS-SDK comes with
examples you can use or modify.
The ATS-SDK contains the necessary files to develop applications both under
Windows and Linux.
ATS-GPU
Interfacing waveform digitizers to GPUs involves creating a software mechanism
to move data from one to the other and back to user buffers. The standard
techniques used most often can get the job done, but feature very low data
throughput due to software overheads.
AlazarTech designed ATS-GPU to eliminate this software bottleneck so that data
can be moved from AlazarTech digitizers to GPUs and from GPUs to user buffers
at full PCIe bus speeds.
Once the data is available in GPU memory, many types of digital signal
processing (DSP) can be done on this data at near-hardware speeds.
The ATS-GPU library provides a framework to allow real-time processing of data
from AlazarTech PCIe digitizers on a CUDA-compatible GPU. To help you get
started, ATS-GPU-BASE comes with an example of a user application that performs
very simple signal processing (data inversion) that you can use or modify.
ATS-GPU-OCT is the optional OCT Signal Processing library for ATS-GPU. It contains
floating-point FFT routines that have been optimized to provide the maximum
number of FFTs per second. Kernel code running on the GPU can do zero-padding,
apply a windowing function, do a floating-point FFT, calculate the amplitude and
convert the result to a log scale. It is also possible to output phase information.
ATS-GPU-NUFFT is an extension of ATS-GPU-OCT that allows non-uniform FFTs
to be performed on data acquired uniformly in time domain using a fixed
sampling rate. For SS-OCTs where the wavelength does not vary linearly in
time, a fixed sampling rate results in data that is non-uniformly distributed in
frequency domain. ATS-GPU-NUFFT allows linearized FFTs to be performed on
such data. The non-uniform FFT requires a linearization function that describes
how the wavelength of the SS-laser evolves during a sweep of the spectrum.
Linearization function can either be user defined or measured directly from a
k-clock signal.

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
ATS9146 User Manual 7
Optional Upgrades
AlazarTech offers the following upgrades for use with your ATS9146 digitizer:
•ATS9146: External Clock Upgrade
•ATS9146: One Year Extended Warranty

Copyright © 2020 Alazar Technologies Inc.
8 ATS9146 User Manual
Chapter 2
Installation and Configuration
This chapter describes how to unpack, install, and configure your ATS9146.

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ATS9146 User Manual 9
What You Need to Get Started
To set up and use your ATS9146, you will need the following:
•One or more ATS9146 digitizers
•ATS9146 Installation Software on USB Disk
(or downloaded software from www.alazartech.com/Support/Downloads)