TDT Online Control and Data Analysis

TDT provides several API tools for reading data as it is recorded and controlling Synapse and TDT hardware programmatically. This page provides an overview and comparison of these tools.

Synapse runs on Windows, but many of these tools can run across network or fiber optic connections to other computers with different operating systems.

Library	Direction	Connection	Bandwidth	Speed	MATLAB	Python	Cross-Platform
SynapseAPI	Read-Write	PC/Network	++	+++
RZUDP	Read-Write	Network	+	+++++
SynapseLive	Read-Only	N/A	++++	+
APIStreamer	Read-Only	PC/Network	++	+++
PO8eStreaming	Read-Only	Fiber Optic	+++++	+++++

Library	Use Case
SynapseAPI	Interface with Synapse while it is running. Mimic anything a user can do, and read/write parameters on hardware.
RZUDP	Event-driven packets, typically spike counts, sent across network interface
SynapseLive	Read all saved data directly into MATLAB through the tank server as it is recorded (6 second delay typical). Can be combined with SynapseAPI for closed-loop control.
APIStreamer	Read streaming data directly from the hardware while Synapse is recording. Can be combined with SynapseAPI for closed-loop control.
PO8eStreaming	Fast access to large amounts of data. Often used with RZUDP or SynapseAPI for closed-loop control.