DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at Test Beam T10 ALICE DAQ Group ALICE TPC Collaboration Meeting Cagliari, Sardinia 16 – 17 May 2004

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DAQ Requirements  Decision taken during ALICE week 15 – 19 March 2004  TPC Sector Test at PS Test Beam T10  TPC prototype from Hall 167  Complete IROC (~5000 channels)  RCU readout via DDL  Si Beam telescope  VME-based readout  Beam Time: 03 May (10 May) – 02 June 2004  DAQ System  DATE software  3.6 MB max. event size, 100 Hz max. trigger rate  ~1 TB data volume using CASTOR  RCU configuration via DDL  Integration with HLT  On-line/Off-line Monitoring

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Detectors at Test Beam T10 IROC prototype of the TPC Sector Si Beam Telescope 10 May 2004

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DAQ Setup at T10 epaitbeam01 D-RORC 201 D-RORC 202 Detector LDC epaitbeam02 D-RORC 225 DIU 262 HLT LDC epaitbeam03 Fast Ethernet GDC 3x 250 GB disk 10 MB/s pcepess30 Detector LDC VME processor CAEN VME boards Si Beam Telescope DDL 3DDL 4 DDL 5 HLT DIU 248DIU 250 SIU 247 HLT (3 PCs) RCU 1 SIU 257 RCU 2 SIU 251 DDL 1 DDL 2 IROC CASTOR 1.5 TB 1 MB/s /castor/cern.ch/alice/testbeam2004/T10

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DDL (Detector Data Link) SIU attached to RCU 2 18 FECs (2304 ch.) IROCDetector LDC ~30 m DDL 2 SIU attached to RCU 1 25 FECs (3200 ch.) DDL 1 epaitbeam01 Integrated D-RORC incoming: DDL 1 outgoing: DDL 3 to HLT Integrated D-RORC incoming: DDL 2 outgoing: DDL 4 to HLT RCU 1 RCU 2

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DAQ Linux Machines VME crate pcepess30 CCT VP CP1 Pentium III 850MHz RH Linux LDC: Si Telescope CAEN VMEbus Modules V262 – I/O registers V551B – CRAMS sequencer 3x V50 – CRAMS (CAMAC) epaitbeam01 2x Xeon 2.4GHz RH Linux LDC: 2x D-RORC Farm PCs epaitbeam02 2x Xeon 2.4GHz RH Linux LDC: 1x D-RORC Server epaitbeam03 2x Xeon 2.4GHz 3x 250 GB disk RH Linux GDC + CASTOR KVM

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DATE v4.8 Software  Functions of LDC machines  Readout two integrated D-RORC in one LDC  Split data from the incoming DDLs to outgoing DDL for HLT  Readout one D-RORC with DIU from HLT via DDL  Configure the RCUs via the DDL with the FeC2 tool  Readout Si beam telescope (re-using Denis Nouais’ software)  Functions of GDC machines  Building full events from sub-events of the LDC machines  DDL mini-header (8 32bit words) for event identification!  Recording to local disks or upload to CASTOR  On-line/Off-line monitoring  Functions of Server machines  RunControl, InfoLogger, DIM server, NFS, etc.

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May DAQ Preparations  week : planning of the DAQ started  week : installation of an LDC in Lab 13-R-0025 for the integration FEC RCU DDL FeC2 and DATE  week : upgrading/fixing FeC2  week : moving LDCs to T10  week : moving VMEbus crate to T10; installation of DATE  week : installation of the GDC with 3x 250GB disks  week : testing DATE at T10; setting up MOOD  week : installation of an LDC in Lab 13-R-0021 for the integration FEC RCU DDL HLT  week : installation of the D-RORCs at T10; testing the data splitter with 2 LDCs for the HLT integration in Lab 4-R-0002  week : integration RCU DATE works (~80 MB/s) in Lab 13-R-0025; setting up CASTOR; cabling at T10; finishing and testing DDL setup; first data taking with 2x RCUs 2x DDLs DATE  week : test runs without beam (e.g. pedestals)

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Running DATE

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Monitoring  Monitoring Modes:  On-line: sampling raw data from memory buffers  Off-line: sampling raw data from recorded files  Four Monitoring Tools:  eventDump: DATE low-level program  hex dump  MOOD (Monitor Of On-line Data): - Toolkit for monitoring with interfaces for detector code - DATE Monitoring library to access raw data; ROOT environment - Visualization of beam position of Si Telescope developed by Ozgur Cobanoglu and Peter Christiansen; TPC data in progress  Roland Bramm’s Monitor: - re-used monitoring program for analyzing data from Hall DATE Monitoring library to access raw data; ROOT environment - Visualization of TPC data  HLT Monitor:

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Monitoring with MOOD Beam position (raw data) of the Si Telescope Beam position (cluster finder) of the Si Telescope

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Monitoring TPC Data Roland’s Monitor: max. ADC of each channel attached to the 25 FECs connected to RCU 1

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Field Experience  DDL Hardware  All connectors/cables/cards must be properly labeled  Choosing the right components (optical transceiver!)  End-to-end testing of each DDL link is necessary  DDL Software  Modifications of the FeC2 tool needed to increase the downloading speed (erroneous wait of acknowledge)  Additional FeC2 statements requested (e.g. WAIT)  Fixing low-level commands (prorc_receive, siu_reset)  DATE  Configuration is complex  Getting familiar with data format (DATE header structure)  DATE and FeC2 cannot run simultaneously on one LDC  A powerful and uniform Monitoring Tool is essential

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May FeC2 Tool RCU with SIU D-RORC with DIU DDL # FeC2 script to configure a single channel write_block 0x0 block2kB.hex %x write_command 0x10F write_block 0x0 block1kB.hex %x write_command 0x100 write_command 0x10F  FeC2 is a tool distributed with the DDL software of DATE to transmit commands and data blocks via the DDL to front-end cards (e.g. RCU, CarlosRX, Crocus).  FeC2 interprets a script of instructions:  Configure one RCU with 25 FECs (3200 channels):  6400 data blocks (1kB and 2kB)  9600 commands  Download speed for data blocks:  Current: Time [µs] = 0.2 · size [bytes] + 51  Improved: Time [µs] = 0.01 · size [bytes] + 94

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Radiation Tolerant Tests SIU  Cross section using protons (100 and 180 MeV):  Registers: σ r = 1.33E-9 ± 0.15E-9 cm 2  Memory cells: σ m = 1.46E-9 ± 0.11E-9 cm 2  Cross section using neutrons (14 MeV):  Registers: σ r = 6.75E-11 ± 1.51E-11 cm 2  Memory cells: σ m = 1.30E-10 ± 0.18E-10 cm 2  The SEU can introduce error during the transmission, but the error rate is negligible ( < bit error rate).  The SEU can cause configuration loss, which will provoke ~1 error/hour at the level of the DAQ system! Measurements on current SIU based on Altera ApexE Altera Apex EP20K60E (max. 162k system gates)

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Choosing FPGA for the SIU  Investigate new technology: Actel ProASIC+  based on Flash technology which is more tolerant against radiation; capacity fits for the SIU (e.g. device APA150 has max. 150k system gates); concerns about speed  Same technology (SRAM) but with error detection and recovery:  Xilinx Virtex II: complete configuration read-back; partial reconfiguration during operation; triple module redundancy  Altera Cyclon and Stratix: built-in circuitry that monitors the configuration memory cells and detects errors  Next steps:  Combined test of the new devices in Uppsala (end of May 2004)  Choice of FPGA and final design of SIU board (Q – Q2 2005)

DAQ for the TPC Sector Test at T10 TPC Collaboration meeting, May Conclusions  High participation of the ALICE DAQ team:  Material: PCs, DDL links, D-RORCs, cables, etc.  Manpower: meetings, hardware/software installation, customizations, testing, support  Several new DAQ components:  Hardware: integrated D-RORC, several 30 m DDL links  Software: two DDL links in one LDC, first integration with HLT, FeC2 under real conditions, on-line monitoring with MOOD  Plan of work:  Data taking with test beam  Integration with HLT  Maintenance of DDLs, DAQ machines, DATE  Moving back to Hall 167 ?