Preamplifier-shaper prototype for the Fast Transition Detector of the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR

In this work a preamplifier-shaper prototype for the Fast Transition Detector of the Compressed BaryonicMatter (CBM) experiment at FAIR fabricated using a 0.35 μm CMOS technology will be presented. The ASIC integrates 16 identical Charge Sensitive Amplifiers (CSA) followed by a Pole-Zero network, two bridged-T filters, Common-Mode FeedBack (CMFB) network and two non-inverting level shifting stages. The circuit is optimized for a detector capacitance Cd of (5-10)pF. Measurement results confirm the noise of 330 e− + 12 e−/pF obtained in simulations for a pulse with a Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) of 71 ns. The circuit recovers to the baseline within 200 ns. The conversion gain is 12.64 mV/fC. An integral nonlinearity of 0.7% is also achieved. The maximum output swing is 2 V. The power consumption is 16 mW/channel where the main contributors are the input transistor and the level shifting stage with 5.3 mW and 6.6 mW, respectively. The total area of the chip is 12 mm2. Although the circuit was designed for a positive input charge it has in addition the ability of handling negative current pulses of about 85% of the typical charge of 165 fC without any degradation of the signal. The chip was submitted for manufacturing in AMS’s C35B4M3 0.35 micron CMOS technology in October 2005. This circuit has been successfully used in the CBM test-beam at GSI Darmstadt in February 2006

Multi-Gigabit Wireless data transfer at 60 GHz

In this paper we describe the status of the first prototype of the 60 GHz wireless Multi-gigabit data transfer topology currently under development at University of Heidelberg using IBM 130 nm SiGe HBT BiCMOS technology. The 60 GHz band is very suitable for high data rate and short distance applications as for example needed in the HEP experments. The wireless transceiver consist of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter includes an On-Off Keying (OOK) modulator, an Local Oscillator (LO), a Power Amplifier (PA) and a BandPass Filter (BPF). The receiver part is composed of a BandPass- Filter (BPF), a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), a double balanced down-convert Gilbert mixer, a Local Oscillator (LO), then a BPF to remove the mixer introduced noise, an Intermediate Amplifier (IF), an On-Off Keying demodulator and a limiting amplifier. The first prototype would be able to handle a data-rate of about 3.5 Gbps over a link distance of 1 m. The first simulations of the LNA show that a Noise Figure (NF) of 5 dB, a power gain of 21 dB at 60 GHz with a 3 dB bandwidth of more than 20 GHz with a power consumption 11 mW are achieved. Simulations of the PA show an output referred compression point P1dB of 19.7 dB at 60 GHz.Comment: Proceedings of the WIT201

Høypålitelig kraftlevering og drift av nett fra kontrollrom

Kraftforsyning anses som en kritisk infrastruktur og er fundamentalt i vårt samfunn. Andre infrastrukturer og samfunnsfunksjoner er avhengig av strøm, og bortfall av strøm kan medføre alvorlige samfunnsmessige følger. Per i dag er det en stabil forsyningssikkerhet, med en leveringspålitelighet på 99.987 % (Hansen et al., 2017). Nettselskaper har ansvaret for levering av elektrisitet til sluttbrukere innenfor sitt konsesjonsområde. Den teknologiske utviklingen medfører at kraftforsyningen blir tettere koblet og mer kompleks, blant annet ved at kraftanlegg fjernstyres fra nettselskapers kontrollrom. Ut i fra dette er problemstillingen for oppgaven: Hvordan kan nettselskaper opprettholde en høypålitelig strømlevering og hvilke forutsetninger må være til stede ved drift fra kontrollrom? For å besvare problemstillingen blir det tatt utgangspunkt i ulike tilnærminger til sikkerhetsstyring av høyteknologiske organisasjoner; Normal Accidents, High Reliability Organization og High Reliability Management. I tillegg knyttes beredskap opp mot kraftforsyning. For å undersøke hvilke forutsetninger som ligger til grunn for drift av kontrollrom har dette studiet en kvalitativ tilnærming. Det har blitt innhentet data gjennom relevante dokumenter og ved å gjennomføre intervju og samtaler med åtte ansatte i et nettselskap. Studiet viser at nettselskapers høypålitelige strømlevering og drift av nettet fra kontrollrommet forutsetter visse menneskelige og organisatoriske faktorer. Nettselskaper opplever som regel flere feilsituasjoner ved daglig drift. Når det oppstår hendelser utover daglige feilsituasjoner kan de betraktes som ekstraordinære hendelser. Ut i fra Beredskapsforskriften er det krav til at nettselskaper skal etablere et helhetlig beredskapskonsept og implementere det i virksomheten. Dette innebærer blant annet at det utarbeides en beredskapsplan. En slik plan er sentral for håndtering av hendelser, men operatørene på kontrollrommet må også evne å håndtere hendelser utover forventninger og beredskapsplanen. Det stiller krav til operatørenes kognitive ferdigheter og erfaring ved improvisering og håndtering i sanntid. Faglige diskusjoner, scenariobygging, øvelser, evaluering og læring av hendelser er sentralt for å oppnå økt bevissthet og fleksibilitet, og dermed en mer pålitelig drift

The PreAmplifier ShAper for the ALICE TPC-Detector

In this paper the PreAmplifier ShAper (PASA) for the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) of the ALICE experiment at LHC is presented. The ALICE TPC PASA is an ASIC that integrates 16 identical channels, each consisting of Charge Sensitive Amplifiers (CSA) followed by a Pole-Zero network, self-adaptive bias network, two second-order bridged-T filters, two non-inverting level shifters and a start-up circuit. The circuit is optimized for a detector capacitance of 18-25 pF. For an input capacitance of 25 pF, the PASA features a conversion gain of 12.74 mV/fC, a peaking time of 160 ns, a FWHM of 190 ns, a power consumption of 11.65 mW/ch and an equivalent noise charge of 244e + 17e/pF. The circuit recovers smoothly to the baseline in about 600 ns. An integral non-linearity of 0.19% with an output swing of about 2.1 V is also achieved. The total area of the chip is 18 mm$^2$ and is implemented in AMS's C35B3C1 0.35 micron CMOS technology. Detailed characterization test were performed on about 48000 PASA circuits before mounting them on the ALICE TPC front-end cards. After more than two years of operation of the ALICE TPC with p-p and Pb-Pb collisions, the PASA has demonstrated to fulfill all requirements

Development of Wireless Techniques in Data and Power Transmission - Application for Particle Physics Detectors

Wireless techniques have developed extremely fast over the last decade and using them for data and power transmission in particle physics detectors is not science- fiction any more. During the last years several research groups have independently thought of making it a reality. Wireless techniques became a mature field for research and new developments might have impact on future particle physics experiments. The Instrumentation Frontier was set up as a part of the SnowMass 2013 Community Summer Study [1] to examine the instrumentation R&D for the particle physics research over the coming decades: {\guillemotleft} To succeed we need to make technical and scientific innovation a priority in the field {\guillemotright}. Wireless data transmission was identified as one of the innovations that could revolutionize the transmission of data out of the detector. Power delivery was another challenge mentioned in the same report. We propose a collaboration to identify the specific needs of different projects that might benefit from wireless techniques. The objective is to provide a common platform for research and development in order to optimize effectiveness and cost, with the aim of designing and testing wireless demonstrators for large instrumentation systems

Development of a selftriggered high counting rate ASIC for readout of 2D gas microstrip neutron detectors

In the frame of the DETNI project a 32-channel ASIC suitable for readout of a novel 2D thermal neutron detector based on a hybrid low-pressure Micro-Strip Gas Chamber with solid 157Gd converter has been developed. Each channel delivers position information, a fast time stamp of 2 ns resolution and the signal amplitude (called energy below). The time stamp is used for correlating the signals from X and Y strips while the amplitude is used for finding the center of gravity of a cluster of strips. The timing and energy information are stored in derandomizing buffers and read out via token ring architecture

n-XYTER: A CMOS read-out ASIC for a new generation of high rate multichannel counting mode neutron detectors

For a new generation of 2-D neutron detectors developed in the framework of the EU NMI3 project DETNI [1], the 128-channel frontend chip n-XYTER has been designed. To facilitate the reconstruction of single neutron incidence points, the chip has to provide a spatial coordinate (represented by the channel number), as well as time stamp and amplitude information to match the data of x- and y-coordinates. While the random nature of the input signals calls for self-triggered operation of the chip, on-chip derandomisation and sparsi cation is required to exploit the enormous rate capability of these detectors ( 4 106cm2s1). The chosen architecture implements a preampli er driving two shapers with di erent time constants per channel. The faster shaper drives a single-pulse discriminator with subsequent time-walk compensation. The output of this circuit is used to latch a 14-bit time stamp with a 2 ns resolution and to enable a peak detector circuit fed by the slower shaper branch. The analogue output of the peak detector as well as the time stamp are stored in a 4-stage FIFO for derandomisation. The readout of these FIFOs is accomplished by a token-ring based multiplexer working at 32 MHz, which accounts for further derandomisation, sparsi cation and dynamic bandwidth distribution. The chip was submitted for manufacturing in AMS's C35B4M3 0.35µm CMOS technology in June 2006

Transition Radiation Spectra of Electrons from 1 to 10 GeV/c in Regular and Irregular Radiators

We present measurements of the spectral distribution of transition radiation generated by electrons of momentum 1 to 10 GeV/c in different radiator types. We investigate periodic foil radiators and irregular foam and fiber materials. The transition radiation photons are detected by prototypes of the drift chambers to be used in the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) of the ALICE experiment at CERN, which are filled with a Xe, CO2 (15 %) mixture. The measurements are compared to simulations in order to enhance the quantitative understanding of transition radiation production, in particular the momentum dependence of the transition radiation yield.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res.

Energy loss of pions and electrons of 1 to 6 GeV/c in drift chambers operated with Xe,CO2(15%)

We present measurements of the energy loss of pions and electrons in drift chambers operated with a Xe,CO2(15%) mixture. The measurements are carried out for particle momenta from 1 to 6 GeV/c using prototype drift chambers for the ALICE TRD. Microscopic calculations are performed using input parameters calculated with GEANT3. These calculations reproduce well the measured average and most probable values for pions, but a higher Fermi plateau is required in order to reproduce our electron data. The widths of the measured distributions are smaller for data compared to the calculations. The electron/pion identification performance using the energy loss is also presented.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Instrum.Meth.