Breakout Board Harp Sync

Harp is a standard for asynchronous real-time data acquisition and experimental control in neuroscience. It includes a clock synchronization protocol which allows Harp devices to be connected to a shared clock line and continuously self-synchronize their clocks to a precision of tens of microseconds. The Harp clock signal is transmitted over a serial line every second. Every time the Harp sync input device in the ONIX breakout board detects a full Harp synchronization packet, a new data frame is emitted pairing the current value of the Harp clock with the local ONIX acquisition clock.

Harp is typically used in behavioral equipment such as audio generation devices, nose-poke loggers, servos, rotary encoders and cameras. The breakout board's harp input allows complete, hardware level synchronization of the Harp and Onix ecosystems. This means that all experimental events are timestamped on the same clock and no post-hoc alignment of timing is necessary.

The following excerpt from the Breakout Board example workflow demonstrates saving data from the Harp input port on the breakout board.