Frequency hopping millimeter-wave reflectometry in ASDEX Upgrade

L. Cupido, S. Graa, L. Meneses, J. Santos, M. Manso, F. Serra

Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Associao EURATOM/IST, Instituto Superior Tcnico,

Av. Rovisco Pais, P-1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Millimeter-wave reflectometers to perform density fluctuations measurements have been for

quite a long time either fixed frequency (heterodyne and homodyne) systems in tunable or
traditional multi-channel fixed frequency arrangements. Only recently novel systems were
brought into operation with the ability to hop from frequency to frequency over a large
bandwidth, during each plasma discharge, while retaining the quality of fixed frequency
phase locked sources. The new hopping reflectometer system recently installed at ASDEX
upgrade to study the radial distribution of turbulence characteristics is here briefly
described and the proposed operation schemes envisaged are detailed.
1. Introduction
Millimeter-wave reflectometry has been used for a long time as a monitor for density
fluctuations in fusion plasmas. In ASDEX Upgrade, density fluctuations were measured by
fixed frequency homodyne and heterodyne systems, both in multi-channel fixed frequency
arrangement. Homodyne swept systems to obtain density profiles cover the frequency range
(18 100 GHz) and can be used also for density fluctuations studies [1]. Fixed frequency
heterodyne systems are installed in Q (33 50 GHz) and V (50 75 GHz) band in O-mode
propagation offer some advantages over homodyne systems: higher sensitivity as well as
the ability to separate phase and amplitude at the receiver.
Recently, two broadband fast hopping mm-wave reflectometers were installed in Q and V
bands to hop from frequency to frequency over a large bandwidth during each plasma
discharge. These new heterodyne systems can cover the whole frequency band and have
continuous spatial coverage by hopping from one frequency to another (measuring points
can be selected as close as required). Its novel design avoids complex coupling elements
required by multi-channel arrangement to feed several reflectometers into a single antenna
system [2].
Due to the specific requirements of the new broadband fast hopping systems, the control
software had to be upgraded. Actually, each band can operate, independently, on one of the
two modes of operation: fixed frequency and frequency hopping. In fixed frequency mode,
only one density layer is probed during the whole discharge. In hopping mode, several
density layers are probed by hopping through the selected frequencies.
In the following sections, we describe the configuration of the ASDEX Upgrade frequency
hopping system, the mm-wave hardware and the control software.

2. System configuration
The current configuration of the frequency hopping system is depicted in Fig. 1. It has three
main blocks: mm-wave hardware, CAMAC crate and workstation suref. The mm-wave
hardware generates the probing signals to the plasma and detects the reflected signals. The
CAMAC crate hosts: two PPGs (Programmable Pulse Generator) and four Kynetic System

boards (ADCs) capable of acquiring 4 Mword of data with a sampling frequency of 500
kHz or 1 MHz. One PPG sends clock signals to mm-wave controllers triggering the
transition to the next selected frequency while the other PPG sends clock signals to
acquisition boards. The control software is running in the diagnostic workstation suref
which programs the microcontrollers in the mm-wave hardware and configures PPGs and
ADCs in the CAMAC crate.

Fig. 1 Block diagram of the broadband fast hopping system in ASDEX Upgrade

3. Mm-wave hardware
The frequency hopping reflectometer has synthesized signal generation for both main signal
and local oscillator signal and incorporates a receiver that maintains a coherent reception
with in-phase and quadrature output signals (I and Q). The main feature of the system is its
possibility to be tuned, within a fraction of a millisecond, to any selected frequency within a
broad range of frequencies within a full waveguide band. To allow fast frequency switching
fast frequency synthesizers are employed (CFN proprietary design).
The Q band system uses 8-12 GHz synthesizer while the V band employs 12-18 GHz. Each
system uses two independent frequency synthesizers, one for the main signal and one for
the local oscillator generator, ensuring a spurious and crosstalk free response in broad band
operation.

Fig. 2 Overall diagram in Q band

Each synthesizer uses a single agile hyper-abrupt tuned oscillator (HTO) within a phase
locked loop (PLL) control loop. The output signal is generated by active or passive
multipliers (or combination of both) and the reception uses a mixer or harmonic mixer.
The phase reference signal, used for the coherent demodulation, was obtained by mixing
down the main synthesizer outputs. In this way coherence is maximized and operation after
frequency switching can happen as soon as the signals are within the IF filter bandwidth.

4. Control software
The control software is based on a client/server architecture [3] and configures the mmwave hardware and the elements hosted in the CAMAC crate (PPGs and ADCs). The server
developed in C++ runs in the workstation suref and accepts multiple connections from
clients through TCP/IP (Transmission Communication Protocol/ Internet Protocol)
protocol, however only one client can actually change the settings in the diagnostic. The
client application has a Graphical User Interface written in C using Xforms library and can
be executed in any computer. Due to the existing firewalls in IPP, the remote operation of
the diagnostic in particular at CFN was enabled with the implementation of Secure Shell
(SSH) tunneling protocol. A predefined protocol is used for exchanging messages between
server and clients and was described in Ref. 4.
Due to the implementation of broadband fast hopping system in Q and V bands, two
operation modes are now possible: fixed frequency and hopping. In fixed frequency mode,
the operator introduces one frequency. In hopping frequency mode, the operator chooses a
pattern of frequencies with a maximum of twenty frequencies, the period for probing each
density layer and the number of repetitions of this pattern throughout the shot. Actually,
only one PPG is available for two bands, so each band has the same number of frequencies,
the same period and the same number of pattern repetitions. In both modes, the operator
specifies the Intermediate Frequency (IF) gain in each band. When the server receives the
configuration of the system, it programs the mm-wave hardware, the PPGs and ADCs in
CAMAC crate.

For configuring IF gain and frequencies in mm-wave hardware, two microcontrollers (one
for each band) are used and connected to the workstation suref through a serial port. A
simple protocol is implemented to allow communication between server and
microcontrollers.
The configuration of acquisition channels, acquisition rates, acquisition time windows and
the sequence of pulses to trigger the frequency change in mm-wave hardware are written in
a diagnostic shot-file-header (the header of a shot configuration file). A diagnostic program
called RFL running in the workstation suref has two phases. In the first phase, prior to the
shot initialization, RFL reads the shot-file header and sends information to PPGs and
ADCs. In the second phase, at the end of the discharge and after the acquisition is finished,
RFL reads the acquired data and builds a shot-file which it sends to the ASDEX Upgrade
shot-file server.

5. Conclusion
In ASDEX Upgrade, the fast hopping frequency system is implemented for Q and V bands
and the control software was upgraded to overcome these new changes and to make the
diagnostic more flexible. Presently the new system is being commissioned and first results
of the radial distribution of turbulence characteristics during the ongoing experimental
campaign on ASDEX Upgrade are expected.

[1] A. Silva et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 70, 1072 (1999)

[2] L. Cupido et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75, 3865 (2004)
[3] V. Grossmann et al., Fusion Engineering and design 48, 25 (2000)
[4] S. Graca et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75, 3852 (2004)