Background image

RedCore / A4528 CPU Modules

Mainframe CPU Modules

Photo of RedCore / A4528 CPU Modules

Overview

The CPU module is the brain of every CAEN Universal Multichannel System: it controls and manages all the LV/HV boards installed in the crate. The family now includes RedCore (A6528), the new-generation CPU designed to boost the performance of the NEW SY6527 and SY7527 mainframes, while remaining 100% compatible with the SY4527 and SY5527 systems you already run. The A4528 remains available for existing SY4527/SY5527 installation.

RedCore is available in Full and Basic versions; the A4528 is available in Full, Advanced and Basic versions.

  • Basic: communication interfaces, reset control, interlock control and status indicators.

  • Advanced (A4528 only): Basic features plus beam handshake connectors (CH-ON, GEN, VSEL, ISEL).

  • Full: the complete set of front-panel connectors, enable control section and front-panel fan speed control.

Highlights

  • RedCore (A6528): new-generation CPU designed to boost the SY6527 and SY7527 mainframes

  • 100% backward compatible with SY4527 and SY5527 mainframes and their power supply boards

  • Two USB Type-C ports (one USB 3.0), HDMI monitor output, 1 Gbps Ethernet

  • Integrated Wi-Fi with external antenna and Bluetooth

  • 1.3″ × 1.3″ front-panel display with navigation switch: network, monitoring, fan, diagnostics, session and info at a glance

What's new in RedCore

A faster brain for your HV system.

  • Next-generation performance — Designed to boost the new SY6527 and SY7527 mainframes.

  • 100% backward compatible — Drops straight into SY4527 and SY5527 mainframes with their existing power supply boards. All control I/O and front-panel signals are equivalent to the A4528: no rewiring, no retraining.

  • Modern connectivity — Two USB Type-C ports (one USB 3.0), HDMI monitor output, integrated Wi-Fi with external antenna, Bluetooth, and the 1 Gbps Ethernet port you rely on.

  • Status at a glance — A 1.3″ × 1.3″ front-panel display with navigation switch replaces the fan status LEDs and selector switch. Six on-board menus — network, monitoring, fan, diagnostics, session and info — show the system state without a host PC.

Modularity, Compatibility, Connectivity, Usability and Solidity are the keywords of the system design. The Mainframes have been specifically designed to power all detector technologies found in modern Physics Experiments, such as photomultipliers, wire chambers, streamers tubes, silicon detectors and others.

The systems are modular, flexible and match not only the requirements of major experiments with large number of channels but also the practical needs of test laboratories, where simple manual operations on a limited number of channels are often desired.

Mainframes

Software

A complete set of Software Tools is available (free download) to control CAEN Universal Multichannel Power Supply Systems, from low level libraries to graphical application software:

  • OPC Server: CAEN, in collaboration with CERN, has developed an OPC server which allows control of its power supply systems by any OPC compliant client application.

  • HiVoCS: HiVoCS is a Web Interface available on any SY4527-SY5527 CPU. This Interface can be accessed directly via browser without installing any additional software.

  • EPICS IOC: mainframes CPUs integrates an EPICS Input / Output Controller (IOC) that provides access to the Process Variables using the Channel Access Protocol.

  • CAEN HV Wrapper Library: it is a set of ANSI C functions bundled in a library, providing the software developer an unified software interface for the control of all the CAEN Power Supply products.

  • GECO2020: CAEN General Control SW for High Voltage Boards and Systems. it can manage and control CAEN HV power supplies in any form factor as if they were an unique device.