Data acquisition trends in Europe

Accelerators and detectors have combined in recent years to produce enormous data fluxes, which are too large to be handled by the conventional techniques of previous decades. Modern detectors gather events of immense complexity that require measurements to be made to untold levels of precision over an expanding dynamic range within an ever-decreasing time frame. The author reviews data handling techniques in current use in Europe and offers an insight into how they will be modified or supplemented for future experiments. It is concluded that balance is the key concept in producing designs to satisfy future data acquisition needs. Bandwidths and processing power must match anticipated data rates and complexities