This section includes a series of tutorials that let you quickly get started with ThunderQ.
-
Waveform-based experiment: Waveform-based experiments usually utilize delay generators("trigger"), waveform generators, and analog signal generators to operate a physical system in a short period of time. Rather than the PC command each device step by step, waveform-based experiments require PC to "compile" the waveforms and the time sequence first, then using "triggers" and waveform generators to run an experiment.
-
Channel: Usually, waveform-based experiments need to produce different waveforms at different cables simultaneously. Each cable connects to different port of the same waveform generator or different waveform generators. Each port of the waveform generator is considered to be a channel of it.
-
Sequence: A sequence is a timespan that a cycle of one experiments runs on, usually involves a bunch of channels triggered at different time of the cycle.
-
Slice: A sequence is composed by slices. A slice is a particular part of a sequence, marked by its start time and duration. In ThunderQ, the
Sequenceclass stores all slices and is in charge of composing the waveforms among slices into the actually waveform performed by the waveform generator. A slice can be made up of a series of sub-slice. -
Procedure: A procedure is a set of operations and waveforms to execute within slices. In general cases, people pass slices into procedures as parameter and let procedures write their own waveforms into slices. The benefit is: the procedures don't need to worry about other waveforms in the sequence, and don't have to care about align waveform across channels.
-
Cycle: A cycle is a set of procedures performed after the triggered has been triggered once. One experiment usually repeatedly performs a cycle many times, with some parameters to be different each time ("scan" experiment or "sweep" experiment).