I6400 - 64 + 1 Channel Charge Integrator

The I6400 is Pyramid's controller and readout for position-sensitive ionization chambers, combining 64 independent strip or wire readout channels with a dedicated dose plane input in a single 1U chassis. Each strip channel is a gated integrator digitized at 16 bits, so the I6400 tracks beam position and shape across a multistrip or multiwire chamber while the dose plane channel measures absolute dose and drives beam control in real time.

The dose plane input runs in either I-V converter mode (0 to ±100µA, four ranges) or gated integrator mode (0 to ±36nC, two ranges), selectable in software, with external accuracy better than 0.1% of full scale in I-V mode and 0.2% in gated integrator mode. The 64 strip channels handle up to ±10nC of charge each, with input noise below 100fA (typically under 60fA) and offset under ±10pA, and a per-channel dynamic range from under 0.5pA to more than 80µA. An integrated high voltage supply, available in four order-time voltage ranges up to 2000V, includes loop-back verification, and the built-in safety relay, front-panel key-switch override, and beam enable/interlock circuitry let the I6400 sit directly in a dosimetry safety chain rather than needing separate interlock hardware.

Communication runs over Ethernet 10/100/1000 (UDP and TCP/IP) or a dual fiber-optic communication loop for daisy-chaining slave devices; the fiber-optic ports use ST bayonet transceivers compatible with both 1mm plastic optical fiber (POF) and 200µm hard-clad silica (HCS) fiber, plus an isolated RS-232/RS-485 serial port for diagnostics and configuration.

For higher channel density on a single readout, see the I128, which extends the same architecture to 128 strip channels.