Development of a front end controller/heap manager for PHENIX

Author

Ericson, M.N. ; Allen, M.D. ; Musrock, M.S. ; Walker, J.W. ; Britton, C.L., Jr. ; Wintenberg, A.L. ; Young, G.R.

Author_Institution

Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., TN, USA

Volume

44

Issue

3

fYear

1997

fDate

6/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

312

Lastpage

317

Abstract

A controller/heap manager has been designed for applicability to all detector subsystem types of PHENIX. The heap manager performs all functions associated with front end electronics control including ADC and analog memory control, data collection, command interpretation and execution, and data packet forming and communication. Interfaces to the unit consist of a timing and control bus, a serial bus, a parallel data bus, and a trigger interface. The topology developed is modular so that many functional blocks are identical for a number of subsystem types. Programmability is maximized through the use of flexible modular functions and implementation using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Details of unit design and functionality will be discussed with particular detail given to subsystems having analog memory-based front end electronics. In addition, mode control, serial functions, and FPGA implementation details will be presented

Keywords

analogue-digital conversion; data acquisition; detector circuits; mixed analogue-digital integrated circuits; nuclear electronics; particle detectors; trigger circuits; ADC; PHENIX; analog memory control; analog memory-based front end electronics; command interpretation; data collection; data packet forming; detector subsystem types; field programmable gate arrays; flexible modular functions; front end controller/heap manager; front end electronics control; functional blocks; parallel data bus; programmability; serial bus; trigger interface; Analog memory; Circuit topology; Communication system control; Control systems; Detectors; Field programmable analog arrays; Field programmable gate arrays; Laboratories; Physics; Timing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.603662

Filename

603662