Note: Multiplexed multiple-tau auto- and cross-correlators on a single field programmable gate array

We introduce a new multiple-tau hardware correlator design for computing fluorescence correlation functions (CFs) in real time. Use of hardware resources is minimized by scheduling the computation of different segments of the CFs on a single correlator block. Simultaneous calculation of two multiple-tau autocorrelation (ACFs) and two cross-correlation functions (CCFs) is implemented in LabVIEW on a National Instruments field programmable gate array (FPGA) card with a minimal sampling time of 400 ns. Raw data are stored with a time resolution of 50 ns. The design can be easily adapted to other FPGA cards and extended to more inputs. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3700810]