Australian researchers at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, Curtin University, and the SKA Observatory have developed BLINK (Breakthrough Low-latency Imaging with Next-generation Kernels), a powerful software pipeline designed to accelerate the search for enigmatic signals from space called fast radio bursts (FRBs) using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia.
FRBs are mysterious, millisecond-long flashes of energy from deep space that could help unlock the structure of the universe. Many FRBs have been detected at higher frequencies (such as by the ASKAP and CHIME telescopes at ~350 MHz–1.8 GHz), but detections at MWA’s lower frequency band (70–300 MHz) are still extremely rare. BLINK is designed to change that, making it possible to search this unexplored low-frequency window.
BLINK harnesses the power of GPUs on Australia’s most powerful supercomputer, Setonix, to process MWA data around 3,700 times faster, and with a much higher energy efficiency. The new software pipeline is being developed by Pawsey’s Cristian Di Pietrantonio under the supervision of radio astronomers Dr Marcin Sokolowski, A/Prof Randall Wayth, and Dr Danny Price, and HPC specialist Dr Christopher Harris.
This leap in speed means weeks of data processing can now be done in just five minutes—paving the way for real-time FRB searches and reinforcing Australia’s leadership in both supercomputing and radio astronomy.
From weeks to minutes
Until now, analysing MWA data at the high time and frequency resolutions required to look for FRBs meant waiting about two weeks to process a single second of observation — long after the cosmic signal had passed. BLINK completes the same high-resolution imaging task in about five minutes on Pawsey’s Setonix supercomputer—close to 3,700 times faster than the established imaging pipeline based on the WSClean software.
In fact, one of the most significant advancement lies in BLINK’s real-time processing potential. Currently, 87% of processing time is spent writing image files to disk— a step that is not needed if the images are searched while they are still in memory. That means another huge speedup could be achieved, making real-time FRB searches with telescopes like the MWA possible.
How it works
BLINK creates tens of thousands of images in millisecond-time and kHz frequency resolutions for every second of telescope observation, capturing ultra-fine time and frequency slices across the MWA’s full bandwidth. It makes full use of Setonix’s advanced architecture by keeping all processing on its GPUs from start to finish. While targeting Setonix’s AMD MI250X as primary execution environment, BLINK also works incredibly well on similar hardware from NVIDIA.
The technology’s impact goes beyond astronomy. The optimisation techniques Cristian employed for BLINK can be applied to fields from medical imaging to financial modelling—showcasing Pawsey’s value not just to the astronomy community, but to high-performance computing innovation more broadly.
As Cristian explains:
“Our goal was to create a tool that not only pushes the boundaries of astronomy but also sets a new benchmark for what’s possible with GPU computing on Setonix. BLINK does exactly that.”
With BLINK, Pawsey is not only accelerating science—it is reshaping the pace at which we explore the universe.
You can read more about this project in the paper published by the Astronomical Society of Australia DOI. 10.1017/pasa.2025.10043 here
This scientific work uses data obtained from Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. We acknowledge the Wajarri Yamaji People as the Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders of the observatory site. The observatory was established with the support of the Australian and Western Australian governments of the Australian. Support for the operation of the MWA is provided by the Australian Government (NCRIS), under a contract to Curtin University administered by Astronomy Australia Limited.
This work was supported by the Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC), Australia’s portion of the international SKA Regional Centre Network (SRCNet), funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources (DISR; grant SKARC000001). AusSRC is an equal collaboration between CSIRO—Australia’s national science agency, Curtin University, the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, and the University of Western Australia.
The radio sky as observed by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The image has been synthesised using the BLINK imaging pipeline in the “long exposure” mode of use, where hundreds of snapshots have been averaged together to form a detailed portrait of what the Universe looks like at radio wavelengths. Each bright spot is a galaxy, and the prominent circular object on the left is a supernova remnant, what is left of a star after its explosion.
