1. 1Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Tracker Software  Offline u Modeling u GRID u Tests u Decoding u Kalman fit u Reconstruction & “data format” issues u ZustandVektor Analysis Application u Next Steps  Online u Cassette 112 u VLSB readout u Towards Station 5 QA DAQ u Next Steps

2. 2Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Modeling  Yagmur has implemented a more detailed model of the tracker solenoid for the downstream tracker. This is needed for the PID analyses.  I’m still waiting for dimensioned drawings of the carbon fibre stations and the diffuser mechanism.  Once these are available, they will be used to upgrade the model of the trackers and upstream solenoid.

3. 3Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 GRID  I’m still having trouble sorting out a proxy to use on the IC GRID portal.  Gidon is helping me with this.  Once the problem is sorted out we should be able to start Monte Carlo production.  Reminder! Get your GRID certificates now and get added to the MICE VO (ask me for instructions once you have a certificate).

4. 4Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Tests  Making good progress with testing thanks to Michael Wojcik.  Recently added a class to keep track of memory use and tests are currently being upgraded to check for memory leaks.  First two SciFi reconstruction tests have been written and are currently being extended.  When time permits (i.e. next week) will finish off SciFi recon tests up to and including Kalman track fit.  Tests will produce histograms as well as regression testing the mean, RMS, etc of all relevant distributions.  Existing tests: SciFiDoubletCluster and SciFiSpacePoint reconstruction.  To do: SciFiSeed, Kalman fit ( no dE/dx & no MCS, just MCS, just dE/dx and all processes on)

5. 5Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Decoding  Aron is making progress on the final changes needed for the KEK analysis.  As of this weekend he has implemented all the methods, however there are some incompatibilities somewhere between the various numbering schemes.  This will be investigated and sorted out once the tracker workshop is over.

6. 6Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Kalman fit  Have been too busy with the VLPC and VLSB work in the past few weeks to make any progress on the Kalman fit.  However, a new release has just been announced by the developers (v1r1p1) which I have downloaded and compiled.  Once I get to the UK I will start the migration of G4MICE to the use of this new version.  It will also be included in the tar ball for download, so the installation process will be simplified a little.  It still does not do field maps, however this should not be critical for the station spacing and I will be working with the developers and other RecPack users to get the field map working as soon as other work allows.  New website: http://evalu29.ific.uv.es/recpack/Welcome.html

7. 7Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Data Format  A couple of recent conversations have made me realise that there is some confusion over the data flow within G4MICE, so here is an attempt to clear it up.  The important concept to understand is that there is no such thing as “the data format”.  As such, there is no requirement for the simulation to produce files that are in the same format.  When thinking about the software, we should think in terms of the C++ classes that represent different physics rather than any particular file format that may be used to store the information.  This has a number of important benefits to us as users of the software...

8. 8Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Classes vs Data Files  We can cope with many different data formats u So far we have three in G4MICE just for tracker tests and at least one more will be coming soon for the station 5 QA. u Once real MICE starts up there will be at least one more for the full MICE DAQ, but it is not ruled out that there will be period during which the system is evolving and the format changes one or more times.  The reconstruction and analysis code does not need to know or care about the source of the data u The code which reconstructs space points (or tracks, etc) does not know whether it is reconstructing hits from a simulation, the KEK test beam or MICE stage VI real data. u The reconstruction can be broken into as many steps as you like and the reconstructed classes from one stage stored for future reconstruction.  Higher level reconstructed objects can be saved (in any format) on their own -> DST

9. 9Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 An Example  A hit on a single channel of a VLPC as readout through an AFE board is represented in G4MICE by the VlpcHit class.  A VlpcHit can tell you: u cryo() – the cryostat that this hit came from u afe() – the number of the AFE board that this hit came from u mcm() – the MCM on the board u chan() – the channel on the MCM on the board u adc() – the ADC counts of the hit u eventually it will also be able to tell you the TDC counts and whether the discriminator fired or not.  A VlpcHit object can be created by many different converters (e.g. KekRealData, MICE DAQ, etc...) but you or I can write code (e.g. to determine pedestals, subtract CMN, etc) based only on the signatures of the VlpcHit class. No knowledge OR DEPENDENCE (!) on the input data format is required.

10. 10Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 ZustandVektor Analysis Application  A new application has been added to CVS that will serve as an example for studying the tracker resolution at the tracker reference planes.  Tracker reference planes have been defined for each tracker that create SpecialHits which are saved for each simulated event.  The SpecialHits are used to create a “ZustandVektor” which represents the position and momentum at the reference planes.  The reconstructed tracks are extrapolated to the relevant tracker reference plane and also stored as ZustandVektors, in this case with position, momentum AND the corresponding covariance matrices from the Kalman fit.  Once I get a chance and Chris is available, the Analysis tools will be upgraded to allow the use of ZustandVektors for the calculation of emittance (the original purpose in the design).

11. 11Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Next Steps  Offline software will continue to be developed at a slow pace until the work at D0 is complete.  Once I’m back in the UK Aron and I will continue work to: u Finish decoding u Prepare test runs of the KEK application to ensure the NTuple is being created with all needed variables u Finish implementing reconstruction tests u Upgrade to new version of RecPack u Prepare Monte Carlo jobs for KEK analysis u Perform analysis.

12. 12Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Cassette 112  New VLPC cassette, currently one of two in the prototype cryostat being tested at D0.  Contains 4 different kinds of VLPC u Exact properties and performance are unknown u Currently investigating them  Using AFEIIt production boards that have been assigned to MICE for testing of the cryostat and cassette.  Have moved from using the 1553 readout to VLSB readout.  Final characterization of the cassette will also result in a working readout/DAQ scheme that will be used for the tracker 5 QA.  Currently in the process of timing in the LED pulser correctly (using an external trigger) and using LED and pedestal data to find optimum bias values for each VLPC module.

13. 13Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 VLSB Readout  Kwame has produced firmware the sends the ADC values out to the VLSB.  We also have the ability to switch between self triggering and the use of an external trigger by changing a couple of lines in the Excel spreadsheet (i.e. no change to FPGA programming required).  Current system is still quite slow ( 1 ~ 2 Hz).  Work in progress to speed this up in two main areas: u Change individual word reads of the VLSB to a block DMA access. u Change calls to loops in Excel sheets (VLSB register reads and writes as well as control of trigger location and software triggering) to dedicated Visual Basic routines.  Previous issues seen (e.g. channels with 0 ADC counts) that were suspected to be 1553 issues have not been reproduced with the VLSB. All 512 channels show reasonable looking pedestals.

14. 14Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Towards Station 5 QA DAQ  Two things needed to take existing DAQ to that needed for Station 5 QA: u Synchronization of boards. u Readout of multiple VLSBs.  Synchronization of boards u Kwame has already created a scheme that patches the timing signals from one AFE board to its neighbour on a cassette. u Currently working on additional requirements to ensure simultaneous L1A signals from an external trigger.  Readout of multiple VLSBs u Data format being written has been prepared in the anticipation of writing output from more than one board. u Once pending VB tasks (data rate) have been accomplished, will modify code to allow use selection of how many boards to read out.

15. 15Malcolm Ellis - Tracker Meeting - 6th November 2006 Next Steps  Solve issue of occasional freezing.  Finalise timing in of external trigger.  Take bias scan data for cassette 112.  Speed up VLSB DAQ sheet for a single board.  Upgrade sheet to allow readout of multiple boards.  Prepare set points for all potential MICE AFEIIt boards in existing cassettes.