Traditional radio astronomy instrumentation relies on custom built designs, specialized for each science application. Traditional high performance computing (HPC) uses general purpose clusters and tools to parallelize the each algorithm across a cluster. In real time radio astronomy processing, a simple CPU/GPU cluster alone is insufficient to process the data. Instead, digitizing and initial processing of high bandwidth data received from a single antenna is often done in FPGA as it is infeasible to get the data into a single server.

Choosing which platform to use for different parts of an instrument is a growing challenge. With instrument specifications and platforms constantly changing as technology progresses, the design space for these instruments is unstable and often unpredictable. Furthermore, the astronomers designing these instruments may not be technology experts, and assessing tradeoffs between different computing architectures, such as FPGAs, GPUs, and ASICs and determining how to partition an instrument can prove difficult. In this work, I present a tool called Optimal Rearrangement of Cluster-based Astronomy Signal Processing, or ORCAS, that automatically determines how to optimally partition an instrument across different types of hardware for radio astronomy based on a high level description of the instrument and a set of benchmarks.

In ORCAS, each function in a high level instrument gets profiled on different architectures. The architectural mapping is then done by an optimization technique called integer linear programming (ILP). The ILP takes the function models as well as the cost model as input and uses them to determine what architecture is best for every function in the instrument. ORCAS judges optimality based on a cost function and generates an instrument design that minimizes the total monetary cost, power utilization, or another user-defined cost.

Here I describe several experiments that explore some of the rarest and most intriguing phenomena in the sky: short duration radio transients and possible electromagnetic emission from advanced extraterrestrial technology. Motivated by new discoveries and new technologies, we have performed, and are performing, some of the most thorough searches for these sources ever attempted. Our experiments include a "fly's eye" search for bright radio pulses at the Allen Telescope Array, commensal searches for extraterrestrial intelligence at the Arecibo Observatory, a targeted search of extrasolar planets for narrow-band radio emission using the Green Bank Telescope and an ongoing effort to discover pulsars in orbit around SgrA*. Although our experiments explore very different physics, they share common tools and techniques, notably a need for high performance digital signal processing. The experiments described here are prime examples of the synergy that exists between science and technology. Aided by dramatic advances in computing technology and the use of commodity components, we have enabled the processing of heretofore unheard of quantities of observational data. By taking advantage of a reusable design paradigm in which instruments do not have to be built from scratch, we have been able to develop new instruments quickly and efficiently. Our experiments are exploring wavelengths and signal types never before searched with high sensitivity, presenting the exciting chance for serendipitous discovery of unexpected phenomena. With an optimistic spirit, we venture into unexplored territory and expect the unexpected.

This thesis is structured as follows: Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the scientific motivations for our experiments and the tools with which we conduct them, Chapter 2 describes our Fly's Eye Search for short duration radio transients at the Allen Telescope Array, Chapter 3 discusses our ongoing SETI experiments at radio and optical wavelengths and our plans for the future, Chapter 4 describes a 1.1-1.9 GHz search for narrow-band emission from planet candidates identified by the Kepler mission and Chapter 5 details our ongoing search for pulsars near Sgr A*.