RS4 Data Streamer

Important

The RS4 is deprecated, consider the RS3 module as a replacement for high bandwidth data acquisition.

RS4 Block Diagram

The RS4 is a storage device with a fiber optic connection to an optical DSP on your RZ device. It is likely also connected to the same network as the computer running Synapse.

RS4 Options

By default, the RS4 uses the RZ device sampling rate. You can set a rate manually by clearing the Sample Rate Max check box to enable the slider. You can also select the data format and any scaling. If streaming from an analog PZ5 or PZA amplifier, the Float-32 format is recommended due to the large input range and high fidelity. If using a ZD digital headstage or PZ2 amplifier, Integer-16 format with Scaling set to 1e6 is preferred.

Phantom Store generates header information in the data tank. This is useful if you are reading the RS4 data with TDT applications through the tank server. However, this consumes extra hard disk space on your Synapse computer, so if you are going to read the files directly from the RS4 for your own custom analysis then leave this unchecked.

Send SEV Rename Packets sends a UDP packet containing the tank and block name over the local network to the RS4, so that the RS4 can rename the data files correctly.

When Phantom Store is selected, Send SEV Rename Packets is selected for you.

Important

If you aren't using TDT applications to read the data saved on the RS4, you don't need to select Phantom Store but you absolutely should select Send SEV Rename Packets so that the RS4 data is organized properly.

Use Large Buffer Size allocates more DSP memory to buffer the data before it is transferred to the RS4. This improves reliable when streaming very high bandwidth, high channel count data to multiple RS4 ports. The RS4 should be updated to v1.19 firmware or above to most effectively use this setting.

Monitor Buffer Status adds a runtime interface that warns you of data errors for high bandwidth streaming applications (64+ channels at fast storage rates). It is not accurate for lower bandwidth streaming (32 channels and below or slow storage rates).

Note

See the RS4 section of the System 3 Manual for more information about Data Streamer operations.