Performance of Object-Oriented Real-Time Control and Acquisition Software

The dead-time of the Object-oriented Real-time Control and Aqcuisition data acquisition software, \textsc{orca}, was quantitatively determined for a VME-based system utilizing a single, peak-sensing CAEN 785N analog-to-digital converter and two scaler modules. A single board computer in the VME crate controls rapid read-out of the modules and the data is then transferred via TCP/IP to the \textsc{orca} control program, running on MacOSX, where the data can be filtered based on desired criteria, saved in an open format, and displayed on-line in histograms. A graphical interface allows the system to be configured via ``drag and drop'' method. The performance tests were performed on \textsc{orca} and two other data acquisition systems used at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, \textsc{coda} and SpecTcl, to compare the systems' data collection capabilities and determine whether the new system is a worthy competitor of the existing systems.