Title :
Parallel processor trigger with distributed real-time kernel
Author :
Korhonen, Timo ; Sakamoto, Hiroshi ; Watase, Yoshiyuki
Author_Institution :
Nat. Lab. For High Energy Phys., Ibaraki, Japan
fDate :
4/1/1991 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A second-level trigger system, based on 40 microprocessors working in parallel, has been designed and is being installed in the VENUS experiment. The purpose of the system is to find particle tracks in the central drift chamber online during analog-to-digital conversion, in about 10 ms. The hardware is designed to be easily modified by software to obtain the optimum configuration for the task at hand. To realize sufficient computing power for the task, the task must be divided and distributed to processors as evenly as possible, and a good balance between computation and communication load must be achieved. To be able to manage such a complicated system, several software tools have been developed. The software for the system has been entirely written in high-level language. Sufficient performance for the trigger operation has been obtained in tests with real event data
Keywords :
microcomputer applications; nuclear electronics; parallel processing; physics computing; position sensitive particle detectors; proportional counters; trigger circuits; VENUS experiment; analog-to-digital conversion; communication load; computing power; distributed real-time kernel; drift chamber; hardware; high-level language; microprocessors; optimum configuration; parallel processor trigger; particle tracks; second-level trigger system; software; Analog-digital conversion; Distributed computing; Hardware; Kernel; Microprocessors; Particle tracking; Power system management; Software development management; Software tools; Venus;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
