[evla-sw-discuss] correlator output team raison d'etre

[Martin Pokorny]

We have discussed the formation of a "correlator output team" for some 
time to investigate in detail the path of correlator output data through 
the EVLA computing subsystem. It will be important to keep the team 
focused on a specific set of issues in order to be most productive, and, 
therefore, I am proposing the following as a potential list of issues 
for the team to address once it has been assembled.

- Where do the files written by the CBE go? Do the files get written to 
a staging area, or directly to the archive?
- If CBE files are written to a staging area, how do other components 
(DCAF and TelCal) access the data, and how do the files get written to 
the archive? In short, how does the staging area work?
- Where, that is, on what machines located in which places, do the 
staging area, archive, DCAF and TelCal reside? What is the physical 
architecture and deployment plan?
- How does DCAF get the data it needs to create SDMs? How do the SDMs go 
from DCAF to the archive?
- How does TelCal use the correlator data?
- How does the RTDD fit in with the architecture? Should it, or does it 
need to?
- Where do station board data products go? Which products?
- Where can EVLA reuse ALMA software?

Although many of these issues are outlined by the high-level system 
architecture and, doubtless, other documents, the correlator output team 
should elaborate on the design to provide more detailed information, 
sufficient to begin detailed design work on the required components and 
interfaces.

Please send comments to the evla-sw-discuss list so that we can refine 
this list questions to be addressed by the team.

After some time for the discussion of the scope of issues that the team 
will work on, the team will be "recruited", and begin meeting in early 
August (if all goes well).

-- 
Martin