Beam signal processing for the Fermilab longitudinal and transverse beam damping systems

A beam signal processor is used to secure the position of each charged bunch in the Fermilab main synchrotron. The signal processor operates at 317 MHz, 6 times the fundamental beam component and uses an amplitude-to-phase converter/hard limiter combination to obtain a normalized position signal. The normalization process is complete in less than 10 ns and is effective over a 23 dB intensity range. The methods used to sample and process the 2 ns beam signal are discussed, and the principle parameters of the device are listed. The processor outputs the derived position data to elements in a closed-loop beam damping system. (auth)