Operational Plan

To meet the scientific requirements, we need a wide field of view, a wide fractional bandwidth, an excellent instantaneous point spread function, and low spectral contamination from various effects.

The key characteristics for the design are therefore:

• 500 antenna elements, each consisting of 16 dual-polarization active dipoles, with analog beamformer and electronic steerability, for a total of 8000 dipoles and ~8000 m² of collecting area at 150 MHz. Combined with a wide field of view, this yields sufficient sensitivity to create an array with world-leading capability for multiple frontier science topics.
• A fully digital receiver and filter chain. This approach uses full-band RF sampling and high resolution (8 kHz) digital filtering. The receiver and filter design provides the very high spectral dynamic range needed by the EOR science. This digital system serves as a pathfinder not only for MWA technologies, but also for other future arrays including the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).
• Full cross correlation of all 500 antennas at 32 MHz bandwidth and full Stokes content. This correlation preserves the full 15-50° field of view of the antenna elements and the large fractional bandwidth. A full cross-correlation architecture permits the antennas to be widely distributed, thereby optimizing the point spread function. The correlation system is based on modern FPGA technologies, and acts as a pathfinder for the massively parallel correlators needed for the MWA, SKA and other future wide-field arrays. Array beamforming is also included to provide high time resolution for non-imaging studies.
• A wide frequency range with full and flexible tuning, including the FM-band, to retain scientific capability. This takes advantage of the radio-quiet site in Western Australia, and allows EOR investigations to extend out to redshifts of 16.
• Extensive software to control the array and process the measurements.
• Campaign-based observing model with a series of focused science and technical experiments conducted by dedicated teams. This approach reduces cost for the demonstration phase, reduces organizational overhead, and maximizes scientific output of the array.