High-speed hardware algorithm for continuous mode time-of-flight mass spectrometry

We describe a real-time, high-speed data-acquisition and data-processing system for continuous mode time-of-flight mass spectrometers. To achieve data acquisition rates of 2 × 1.5 giga samples per second (GS/s), needed for the considered class of mass spectrometers, we implement the system as an Fpga-based hardware algorithm. We must solve two most challenging problems: First, the high-speed acquisition produces an enormous amount of data that we handle by on-the-fly data compression/uncompression to circumvent the memory-bandwidth restrictions. Second, the need for continuous acquisition of mass spectra and event-triggering ask for powerful hardware algorithms that allow to measure long signals that are composed of ultra-short signal pulses due to single aerosol- or nano particles.