  In this paper a description is given of the SFXC software correlator,
developed and maintained at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE). The
software is designed to run on generic Linux-based computing clusters. The
correlation algorithm is explained in detail, as are some of the novel modes
that software correlation has enabled, such as wide-field VLBI imaging through
the use of multiple phase centres and pulsar gating and binning. This is
followed by an overview of the software architecture. Finally, the performance
of the correlator as a function of number of CPU cores, telescopes and spectral
channels is shown.
