rfmux 1.5.0

Python library for t0.technology CRS board running rfmux firmware

rfmux

rfmux is the Python API for t0.technology's Control and Readout System (CRS), a hardware platform designed for operating large arrays of Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) used in radio astronomy and quantum sensing applications.

The CRS + MKIDs firmware is described in this conference proceedings.

Quick Start

Installation

New in 2025: rfmux is now available on PyPI. We recommend using uv for installation:

# Install uv (if not already installed)
$ curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh  # Linux/macOS or WSL
# Or: powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"  # Windows

# Create virtual environment 
uv venv ### or uv venv my-env-name
source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows: .venv/Scripts/activate
# or source my-env-name/bin/activate

# Install rfmux
$ uv pip install rfmux

Note: rfmux now uses a C++ extension for packet processing. PyPI hosts pre-built binaries (wheels) for common platforms (Linux x86_64, macOS, Windows). If wheels aren't available for your platform, you'll need a C++ compiler. See Installation Guide for details.

Interactive GUI

To launch the Periscope GUI, run:

$ uv run periscope # or periscope

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/581d4ff8-5ea2-493a-9c9c-c93d6ca847e2

Scripting with Mock Mode

If you do not have a CRS board (or cryogenic detectors) handy, you can use "mock" mode for a software emulation:

# Emulate CRS hardware for offline development
s = rfmux.load_session("""
!HardwareMap
- !flavour "rfmux.mock"
- !CRS { serial: "MOCK0001" }
""")

Scripting with CRS Hardware

To control a single network-attached CRS from your PC's Python prompt, use:

import rfmux

# Connect to a CRS board
s = rfmux.load_session('!HardwareMap [ !CRS { serial: "0033" } ]')
crs = s.query(rfmux.CRS).one()
await crs.resolve()

# Acquire samples
samples = await crs.get_samples(1000, channel=1, module=1)

Documentation

• Installation Guide - Detailed installation for all platforms, building from source
• Getting Started - Usage patterns, hardware hierarchy, common operations
• Networking Guide - UDP tuning, multicast configuration, troubleshooting
• Firmware Guide - Fetching, managing, and flashing firmware

Repository Structure

rfmux/
├── docs/                # Documentation
├── firmware/            # Firmware binaries (Git LFS)
├── home/                # Jupyter Hub content (demos, docs)
├── rfmux/               # Main Python package
│   ├── algorithms/      # Network analysis, fitting, biasing
│   ├── core/            # Hardware schema, sessions, mock infrastructure
│   ├── packets/         # C++ packet receiver library
│   ├── tools/           # Periscope GUI and other tools
│   └── tuber/           # RPC/remote-object communication
└── test/                # Test suite (unit, integration, QC)

Contributing & Feedback

rfmux is permissively licensed; see LICENSE for details.

We actively encourage contributions and feedback. Understanding operator needs is how we determine what to add to rfmux.

• Pull Requests: Your contributions are welcome
• Issues: Please submit tickets for bugs or enhancement suggestions
• Collaborator Slack: Join #crs-collaboration - email [e-mail] with your name, affiliation, and project

Citation

When citing rfmux or CRS, please reference:

CRS + MKIDs Conference Proceedings: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.16266