Data Types

The basic integration step (dump) is 1 second. Transmitting a full spectrum is impossible at such a rate: there are too many channels... Available integration times usually range from 15 to 240 seconds, although a few specific observing procedures have a shorter duration (5 seconds). However, the correlator produces two types of data:

• the Time data, which is a frequency averaged data computed every second. Each unit produces its time data, by averaging the results of an integration step over a user-defined frequency band (to be selected within the IF band of the unit, of course). This data is also called the ``Continuum'' data.
• the Spectral data, i.e. the time averaged spectrum for the whole integration. This data is also called the ``Line'' data.