AlazarTech ATS9416 User manual

ATS9416 User Manual
14 Bit, 16 Channel, 100 MS/s
Waveform Digitizer for PCI Express Gen 2 Bus
Written for Hardware Version 1.3
December 2018 Edition

ATS9416 User Manual i
Copyright © 2018 AlazarTech. All rights reserved.
AlazarTech 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 ATS9416, send e-mail to
[email protected]om.
Information required when contacting AlazarTech for technical
support:
Owned by:
Serial Number:
Purchase Date:
Purchased From:
Software Driver Version:
SDK Version:
ATS-GPU Version:
ATS-GMA Version:
AlazarDSO®Version:
Operating System:

ii ATS9416 User Manual
Important Information
Warranty
The ATS9416 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. AlazarTech, Inc.
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, Inc. 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, Inc. will, at its option, repair or replace
software media that do not execute programming instructions if
AlazarTech, Inc. receives notice of such defects during the
warranty period. AlazarTech, Inc. 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, Inc. will pay the shipping costs of returning to the
owner parts that are covered by warranty.
AlazarTech, Inc. 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, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to
subsequent editions of this document without prior notice to
holders of this edition. AlazarTech, Inc. 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, Inc. if errors are suspected. In no event shall
AlazarTech, Inc. 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, Inc. website at
www.alazartech.com/support/downloads.htm.
EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN, ALAZARTECH, INC. 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, INC. SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT

ATS9416 User Manual iii
THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER. ALAZARTECH,
INC. 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, Inc. will apply regardless of the form of
action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence. Any action
against AlazarTech, Inc. must be brought within one year after the
cause of action accrues. AlazarTech, Inc. shall not be liable for
any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable
control. The warranty provided herein does not cover damages,
defects, malfunctions, or service failures caused by owner’s failure
to follow the AlazarTech, Inc. 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, Inc.
Trademarks
AlazarTech®, AlazarTech ATS®, AlazarDSO®, AlazarPC®, and
AlazarStream®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 is a trademark and/or
registered trademark 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. Radeon is a
trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. OpenCL is a
trademark of Apple Inc. All other trademarks or trade names are
the property of their respective owners.
Warning Regarding Use of AlazarTech Products
1. ALAZARTECH, INC. 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

iv ATS9416 User Manual
WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE
EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO A
HUMAN.
2. 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 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, INC.’s TESTING PLATFORMS AND
BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY
USE ALAZARTECH, INC. PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION
WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT
EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY ALAZARTECH,
INC., THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS
ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND
VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF ALAZARTECH INC.
PRODUCTS WHENEVER ALAZARTECH, INC. PRODUCTS
ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION,
INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE
DESIGN, PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH
SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.

ATS9416 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 a FCC ID code, starting with
the letters EXN, or the FCC Class B compliance mark.
Consult the FCC website http://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
Inc. could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment under
the FCC/ISED Rules.

vi ATS9416 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.

ATS9416 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.

viii ATS9416 User Manual
Table of Contents
Important Information ................................................................... ii
Compliance .................................................................................. v
Table of Contents.......................................................................viii
Change Log................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1
About Your ATS9416 ................................................................... 2
ATS9416 Export Control Classification ........................................ 3
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9416.............................................. 4
Optional Upgrades ....................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION ........... 8
What You Need to Get Started .................................................... 9
Unpacking .................................................................................. 10
Installing the ATS9416 ............................................................... 11
Installing the ATS9416 in a Linux System.................................. 20
Updating ATS9416 Driver .......................................................... 23
CHAPTER 3 HARDWARE OVERVIEW .................................... 24
Physical Overview ...................................................................... 26
Status LEDs ............................................................................... 28
Signal Connections .................................................................... 31
Analog Input ............................................................................... 33
Calibration .................................................................................. 35
Optional External Clock.............................................................. 36
Optional Wideband Input............................................................ 38
Optional Accessories ................................................................. 39
CHAPTER 4 SPECIFIC FEATURES ......................................... 41
Streaming Data Across the Bus ................................................. 42
APPENDIX A - SPECIFICATIONS ............................................ 47
APPENDIX B - BENCHMARKS ................................................ 53

ATS9416 User Manual ix
Change Log
This is the first edition of this manual

ATS9416 User Manual 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
This chapter describes the ATS9416 and lists additional
equipment.

2 ATS9416 User Manual
About Your ATS9416
Thank you for your purchase of an ATS9416. This PCI Express
(PCIe Gen2 x8) based waveform digitizer has the following
features:
•Sixteen (16) 14-bit resolution analog input channels
•Real-time sampling rate of 100 MS/s to 100 KS/s
•Uses on-board SO-DIMM RAM as a very deep FIFO
•Streaming of acquired data to PC host memory at
3.5 GB/s (exact rate is motherboard dependent)
•65 MHz analog input bandwidth. Optional upgrade to
100 MHz available.
•Half length PCI Express (8 lane) card
•External trigger input channel
•DC coupling and fixed 50 Ωinput impedance for analog
inputs
•Pre-trigger and Post-Trigger Capture with Multiple Record
capability
•NIST- or CNRC-traceable calibration
•Dual DMA engines for best latency protection against
Windows®and Linux®operating systems
•Fully asynchronous software driver for fastest DMA with
least CPU overhead
All ATS9416 digitizers follow industry-standard Plug and Play
specifications on all platforms and offer seamless integration with
compliant systems.
Detailed specifications of the ATS9416 digitizers are listed in
Appendix A, Specifications.

ATS9416 User Manual 3
ATS9416 Export Control Classification
According to the Export Controls Division of Government of Canada,
ATS9416 is currently not controlled for export from Canada. Its
export control classification is N8, which is equivalent to ECCN
EAR99. ATS9416 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 ATS9416, 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.
This process may cause significant delays.

4 ATS9416 User Manual
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9416
You can acquire data either programmatically by writing an
application for your ATS9416 or interactively with the AlazarDSO
software.
If you want to integrate the ATS9416 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, Windows Server 2013, Windows
Server 2010, and Windows Server 2008 R2. Both 32 bit
and 64 bit Windows operating systems are supported.
AlazarTech offers ATS9416 binary drivers for most of the
popular linux distributions, such as CentOS, Ubuntu, etc.
Users can download the binary driver for their specific
distribution by choosing from the available drivers here:
ftp://r[email protected]/outgoing/linux
Only 64 bit Linux operating systems are supported.
Other Linux distributions may also be supported on a case
by case basis. Please contact [e-mail]
for more details. You must include the full output of
uname -a command from your target Linux system in your
email.
The AlazarTech engineering team may be able to
generate an appropriate driver for a nominal fee, if
applicable
For using a programming language to acquire data from your
ATS9416, you must purchase the ATS-SDK package.

ATS9416 User Manual 5
Interactively Controlling your ATS9416
The AlazarDSO oscilloscope emulation software for Windows
allows you to interactively control your ATS9416 as you would a
desktop oscilloscope.
Under Linux, an equivalent application named Alazar Front Panel
is available.
Note that Alazar Front Panel has a limited feature set.

6 ATS9416 User Manual
ATS-SDK API
The ATS-SDK API is used for programming the ATS9416 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
The ATS-GPU library provides a framework to allow real-time
processing of data from AlazarTech PCIe digitizers on a CUDA®-
enabled GPU. Using pinned buffers, ATS-GPU can move data at up
to 3.5 GB/s for ATS9416. To help you get started, ATS-GPU-BASE
comes with an example of a user application that performs very
simple signal processing (data inversion) 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 also
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-GMA
The ATS-GMA library allows True DMA of data from AlazarTech
PCIe digitizers to AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU cards at up to
3.5 GB/s for ATS9416, with latency as low as 100 μs. ATS-GMA
does not use any host memory buffers for temporary storage. To
help you get started, ATS-GMA-BASE comes with an example of a
user application that performs very simple signal processing (data
inversion) that you can use or modify. ATS-GMA is for OpenCL™-
based development.
ATS-GMA-OCT is the optional OCT Signal Processing library for
ATS-GMA. It provides out-of-the-box OCT imaging with 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.

ATS9416 User Manual 7
Optional Upgrades
AlazarTech offers the following upgrades and accessories for use
with your ATS9416 digitizer:
•ATS9416: External Clock Upgrade (5 MHz to 100 MHz)
•ATS9416: Wideband Input Upgrade
•SyncBoard-9416 (2x, 4x, 2x-W, 3x-W, or 4x-W) for
creating a multi-board Master/Slave system
•ATS9416: QSS-BNC16 Cable 36 inches
•ATS9416: QSS-QSS Cable 36 inches
•ATS9416: Breakout Board + QSS-QSS Cable

8 ATS9416 User Manual
Chapter 2 - Installation and
Configuration
This chapter describes how to unpack, install, and configure your
ATS9416.

ATS9416 User Manual 9
What You Need to Get Started
To set up and use your ATS9416, you will need the following:
•One or more ATS9416 digitizers
•ATS9416 Installation Software on USB Disk
(or downloaded software from
www.alazartech.com/Support/Downloads)