1 research outputs found
Design of Multi-Gigabit Network Interconnect Elements and Protocols for a Data Acquisition System in Radiation Environments
Modern High Energy Physics experiments (HEP) explore the fundamental nature
of matter in more depth than ever before and thereby benefit greatly from the
advances in the field of communication technology. The huge data volumes
generated by the increasingly precise detector setups pose severe problems for
the Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ), which are used to process and store this
information. In addition, detector setups and their read-out electronics need
to be synchronized precisely to allow a later correlation of experiment events
accurately in time. Moreover, the substantial presence of charged particles from
accelerator-generated beams results in strong ionizing radiation levels, which has
a severe impact on the electronic systems.
This thesis recommends an architecture for unified network protocol IP cores
with custom developed physical interfaces for the use of reliable data acquisition
systems in strong radiation environments. Special configured serial bidirectional
point-to-point interconnects are proposed to realize high speed data transmission,
slow control access, synchronization and global clock distribution on unified links
to reduce costs and to gain compact and efficient read-out setups. Special features
are the developed radiation hardened functional units against single and multiple
bit upsets, and the common interface for statistical error and diagnosis information,
which integrates well into the protocol capabilities and eases the error handling in
large experiment setups. Many innovative designs for several custom FPGA and
ASIC platforms have been implemented and are described in detail. Special focus
is placed on the physical layers and network interface elements from high-speed
serial LVDS interconnects up to 20 Gb/s SSTL links in state-of-the-art process
technology.
The developed IP cores are fully tested by an adapted verification environment for
electronic design automation tools and also by live application. They are available
in a global repository allowing a broad usage within further HEP experiments