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A miniaturized multichannel scaler instrument has been developed to address size and operational constraints for data acquisition in a portable laser-induced luminescence system. The multichannel scaling (MCS) function is implemented as a programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with standard interfaces for control and data-acquisition. The instrument is microcontroller-based with sufficient computing power for data manipulation and algorithmic processing. The unit includes electronics for laser control and amplification and pulse height discrimination of PMT pulses. Modification of the instrument should allow use in nuclear, chemical, and spectroscopy-related applications including Mossbauer experiments. Interfaces are incorporated allowing both computer-controlled and stand-alone operation. Implementation of the MCS function as an ASIC and comparison with conventional implementations are discussed. Full characterization of the MCS is presented including differential nonlinearity, bin dead time, and bandwidth measurements. >

A computer-based control system is described, wherein the nonvolatility of a hardware system is combined with the flexibility of a computer-based system by the use of nonalterable memory for program storage and alterable memory for manually entered alarm limits and channel deletions. Functional and reliability requirements are presented, and the system design which evolved to meet these requirements is described.