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e-Article

Architecture and Implementation of the Front-End Electronics of the Time Projection Chambers in the T2K Experiment
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on. 57(2):406-411 Apr, 2010
Subject
Nuclear Engineering
Bioengineering
Detectors
Field programmable analog arrays
Electronic equipment testing
Neutrino sources
Real time systems
Application specific integrated circuits
Switching circuits
Switched capacitor circuits
Analog memory
Field programmable gate arrays
Front-end electronics
switched capacitor arrays
FPGA
fast networks
Language
ISSN
0018-9499
1558-1578
Abstract
The tracker of the near detector in the T2K neutrino oscillation experiment comprises three time projection chambers based on micro-pattern gaseous detectors. A new readout system is being developed to amplify, condition and acquire in real time the data produced by the 124.000 detector channels. The cornerstone of the system is a 72-channel application specific integrated circuit which is based on a switched capacitor array. Using analog memories combined with deferred digitization enables reducing the initial burstiness of traffic from 50 Tbps to 400 Gbps in a practical manner and with a very low power budget. Modern field programmable gate arrays coupled to commercial digital memories are the next elements in the chain. Multi-gigabit optical links provide 140 Gbps of aggregate bandwidth to carry data outside of the magnet surrounding the detector to concentrator cards that pack data and provide the interface to commercial PCs via a standard Gigabit Ethernet network. We describe the requirements and constraints for this application and justify our technical choices. We detail the design and the performance of several key elements and show the deployment of the front-end electronics on the first time projection chamber where the final tests before installation on-site are being conducted.