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1.2 DP5Family
AmptekhasafamilyofproductsbuiltarounditscoreDP5digitalpulseprocessingtechnology,
designedforpulseheightspectroscopy.Itwasoriginallydesignedforthedetectionofionizingradiation,
principallyX‐rayandgamma‐rayspectroscopy.Agenericsystem,illustratedbelow,includes(a)a
sensor,a.k.a.detector,(b)achargesensitivepreamplifier,(c)analogprefiltercircuitry,(d)anADC,(e)an
FPGAwhichimplementspulseshapingandmultichannelanalysis,(f)acommunicationsinterface,(g)
powersupplies,(h)dataacquisitionandcontrolsoftware,and(i)analysissoftware.
Detector and
Preamplifier
Analog
Prefilter ADC Slow
Channel
Peak Detect
Histogram Logic
Counters
Pulse
Selection
C and
Interface
Auxiliary
Signals
Computer
Oscilloscope or
external logic
Digital Processor (DPP)
Fast
Channel
Digital Pulse Shaping
Figure2.Genericspectroscopysystem
ThecoreDP5technologysharedbyallthesystemsincludestheADC,theFPGA,thecommunication
interface,andthedataacquisitionandcontrolsoftware.AllproductsintheDP5productfamilyinclude
nearlythesamedigitalsignalprocessingalgorithms,thesamecommunicationinterfaces(boththe
primaryserialinterfacesandtheauxiliaryI/O),andusethesamedataacquisitionandcontrolsoftware.
TheDPPMCAsoftwarepackageisacomplete,compileddataacquisitionandcontrolsoftwarepackage
usedacrossthefamily;AmptekalsooffersanSDKforcustomsoftwaresolutions.
TheproductsintheDP5familydifferinthesensorforwhichtheyaredesigned,whichleadsto
changesintheanalogprefilter,powersupplies,andformfactor.Theyalsodifferintheircompleteness:
someofAmptek’sproductsare“complete”whileothersofferonlyaportionofthefunctionalityforthe
usertointegrateintoacompletesystem.
Amptekhaswrittena“UserManualforAmptek’sDP5ProductFamily”whichsummarizesthose
characteristicsthatarecommonacrosstheentireDP5family.Thismanualconcentratesononlythose
aspectswhichareuniquetothePC5circuitboard.
1.3 OptionsandVariations
Configurations
ThePC5wasdesignedsothatitcanbeconfiguredtosupportawidevarietyofdetectors.Some
parameterscanbesetviasoftwarecommands,throughtheDP5(i.e.theHVbiasvoltageorthe
detectorstemperature).Manyotherconfigurationoptionsaresetviahardwarejumpersorminor
changestothecomponentsonthecoreboard(changestotheBill‐of‐Materials).TheseBOMchanges
areindicatedbyasetofconfigurationindicators.