A plug and play approach to data acquisition

Backplane buses are becoming a legacy for high-rate, high-volume data processing applications. Higher efficiency at lower cost is offered by the PCI bus technology, compared to crate-embedded processors. Becoming part of the plug and play domain of the host´s operating system, no additional data transfer protocols are needed. We have combined PCI technology with high-density field-programmable gate array (FPGA) logic and common mezzanine standards on a flexible PCI card. First applications cover readout controllers for legacy bus protocols, high-speed link I/O and fast analog input data conversion. An FPGA with embedded PCI master/target core serves as a programmable interface between the PCI bus, mezzanine cards, and a local SDRAM. Adapter mezzanine cards, implemented according to the IEEE P1386 or similar common standards, are used for voltage level conversion, trigger interfacing or preprocessing. The application-dependent controller functions as well as SDRAM and PCI interfacing are handled by FPGA logic. A Linux driver was developed to achieve high bandwidth via CPU-initiated transfers. Control software for Windows and an interface for LabView target control and monitoring applications via graphical interfaces. First experience and applications are reported.