Specifications

control over the start block and size parameters for each recording. An example of the
recording table is shown after several recordings have been defined. Note that the
prompt at the bottom always displays the name and size of the current recording.
Recorder Info:
Total capacity : 33.9 GiB ( 17365 blocks)
Capacity used : 510.0 MiB ( 255 blocks)
Capacity available : 33.4 GiB ( 17110 blocks)
Largest recording size : 33.4 GiB ( 17110 blocks)
Recorder block size : 2.0 MiB
Number of recordings : 2 (maximum : 895)
RecNo Blocks UserSize Name MB/s Tag Stored State
1 0 - 4 10.0 MiB Recording_1 28.5 No Yes Recorded
2 5 - 254 00.0 MiB Recording_2 39.9 No Yes Recorded / Current
Recording_2 (500.0 MiB) >
The hardware and software architecture of MDR is designed around a 32-bit data path.
However, to facilitate data I/O widths less than 32-bit without losing bandwidth, various
data packing and unpacking options are available in the data interface. This is a very
useful feature when connecting to ADC and DAC boards, which often have sample
widths of only 8 to 16 bits. For example, if a 10-bit ADC is used, the MDR can pack
three 10-bit samples in a 32-bit word before it gets recorded, wasting only two bits
rather than 22 if no packing were used. The packing options provided are 2x16-bit,
3x10-bit, 4x8-bit or 8x4-bits words packed in or unpacked from a 32-bit word.
1.8 MDR Swinging Buffers
The MDR base boards are equipped with two high-speed DRAM buffers which are util-
ized in a “swinging buffer” mode by DMA controllers in the input and output interfaces.
This process ensures contention free input and output data flows through the MDR
board, making a continuous recording performance of up to 90 MB/s possible.
MDR User Guide 7
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