Development of a high resolution TDC module for MicroTCA based on the GPX ASIC

A high resolution time to digital conversion (TDC) module has been developed for the readout of drift tubes in the PANDA detector system planned at the future FAIR facility in Darmstadt, Germany. The board is designed as a double width compact size MicroTCA module. The backplane communication is based on PCI Express according to AMC.1. PCI Express is implemented with a Xilinx XC5VLX30T FPGA using an embedded PCI Express Endpoint Block and 4 Rocket IO GTP Transceivers. The Module Management Controller (MMC) is implemented with a Microchip PIC32MX460F512L microcontroller with integrated I²C interfaces. The TDC module provides 32 channels and is based on the GPX ASIC from acammesselectronic gmbh. In the selected mode the GPX has 8 input channels with a resolution up to 81 ps.