Development of TileCoM firmware and software for the off-detector electronics of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter at the HL-LHC

Date
2023-08
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
In 2010 the LHC started to operate as the energy frontier particle accelerator in the world, situated close to Geneva and 100 m below the French and Swiss border in a circular tunnel of 27 km. The HL-LHC which is an upgrade of the LHC is envisioned to maximize the instantaneous luminosity of L = 1 × 1034 cm−2s −1 by a factor of 5 to fully exploit the physics potential at the energy frontier. During 10 years of operation, an improved TDAQ system architecture will have the capability to accommodate the trigger rates and the amount of data generated from the HL-LHC. TileCal is the ATLAS central hadronic calorimeter, a sampling calorimeter with iron as passive medium and plastic scintillator tiles as active medium. The ATLAS TileCal Phase-II upgrades will prepare the ATLAS experiment for the HL-LHC and includes new requirements in terms of radiation levels, an increase in data bandwidth, and clock distribution. To meet the requirements of the HL-LHC, a completely new readout electronics is designed to support the data acquisition system of TileCal. As part of the new readout electronics, this thesis is focused on the design of the TileCoM and Tile GbE Switch. The Tile GbE Switch PCB is manufactured by two South African companies, Trax Interconnect and Jemstech. The PCBs are fully func tional and have been integrated with new readout electronics. Three main function alities are implemented on the TileCoM in software and firmware implementation as key elements of the TDAQ and DCS of the ATLAS TileCal at the HL-LHC. The TileCoM and Tile GbE Switch are successfully integrated with the ATLAS Phase II TileCal upgrade electronics. This is achieved by successful remote control and monitoring of the ATLAS TileCal Phase-II upgrade electronics. This thesis shows monitoring results based on voltage, current and other parameters.
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in the Institute for Collider Particle Physics), to the Faculty of Science, School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023.
Keywords
FPGA - Field Gate Programmable Arrays, DCS -Detector Control System, TileCal - Tile Calorimeter, UCTD
Citation
Gololo, Mpho Gift Doctor. (2023). Development of TileCoM firmware and software for the off-detector electronics of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter at the HL-LHC. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/42432