Possibilities of laboratory instrument upgrading by use of digital signal processors or field programmable gate arrays

After a nuclear instrumentation laboratory is adequately equipped, attention must be given to the ongoing operation and maintenance. This is an important consideration in the production of satisfactory data and quality control. It requires that the maintenance technician or engineer has adequate understanding of each instrument design in order to detect any problem that arises. Nowadays, manufacturers make use of new technology such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gates arrays (FPGA), programmable logic controller (PLC) to improve their equipment design, thus increasing the efficiency and quality of measurements. These embedded components are designed in a digital configuration which makes them difficult to troubleshoot, once faulty. Therefore, equipment maintenance has evolved from repair to replacement of boards. Boards that are designed based on the new technology can be used to upgrade an existing instrument for a data acquisition, spectrum analyzing, etc. Communication between these components and the computer can be achieved by LabVIEW and with user interfaces designed using a LabVIEW environment. (author)