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The MAGICT DAQ page at Munich
Here is some DOCUMENTATION
and some PROGRAM BACKUPS for the new MUX FADC sytem
Here is some DOCUMENTATION
and some PROGRAM BACKUPS for the old (Siegen) 300 MHz FADC system
Some results of test performed with the FADC/DAQ system.
Here are some details about the special digital-input modules:
Find here TDAS note (ps)
with the description of its purpose and specs. All the necessary files
to compile this note are packed here as a
tgz file.
And this is a pdf file with the description of
the socket for the 16 inputs in each digital module (ours is the 40-pin version).
Find here Ralf Stiehler's thesis
"Konzeption, Entwicklung und Aufbau einer FADC-basierten Ausleseelektronik
fuer das MAGIC-Teleskop" in pdf format.
Download from here the raw data files with
the results of the tests in Barcelona. Read test_files.asc for a
description of the files.
Definition of analog signal connectors. Here you can find some
pdf files defining several components. We downloaded them from
3M.
- The output signal
connectors
on the receiving boards. They are also the
input signal connectors on the FADC boards. We will use the 26 pin model.
- The cables
connecting the receiving boards and the FADC boards.
- The
assignment of the pins in these connectors and cables
to channels in the boards and FADCs.
First example of raw data, taken with the old FADC modules and
the minidaq acquisition program. It contains 100 events
with 32 pixels, mostly pedestal noise. However you should find a
15 ns rectangular pulse in two of the channels.
A short description of the system
power requirements.
First definition of the raw data format:
A review of the DAQ system and its interaction with the central control.
Contribution
to the MAGIC Software Meeting at Hinterriss, March 2000.
"The
FADC readout of the MAGIC telescope", slides of J. Cortina's talk in
"Towards a Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector VI", Snowbird August 1999.
NEW:
contribution
to the proceedings of the workshop.
Second MAGIC Data Acquisition
Meeting at MPI-Munich
"Tests
of the FADCs performed in Munich", J. Cortina's contribution to the
MAGICT General Meeting in Padua.
Some
VIs in LabVIEW for testing network and interapplication communication
(I know I have to document them: just give me a break!). They should work
under LV 5.0 on any platform.
J.
Cortina's slides about LabVIEW for the First MAGIC Software Meeting.
Two
sets of slides corresponding to J. Cortina's two talks at the MAGICT
DAQ software meeting at CERN (March '99).
First
MAGIC Data Acquisition Meeting at CERN.
Work in progress
July 17, 2000.-
The faulty interface board for the old FADC crate has been
fixed in Siegen and it's back in Munich. We have re-taken
the power supply tests and Toni expects to have them ready soon.
Results of the October Test Preparation
Meeting in Munich:
- The analog 8-channel input connectors entering the FADCs
have been fixed to 26-pin LVDS standard. In particular we'll
probably use the 3M cables and
connectors suggested by Padua. Each input (two wires) is
individually screened and there's an additional outside shield.
- The trigger crate output signal will be a logical LVDS.
This signal will trigger the FADC readout.
- The prospects for using the new FADC design in the test
look relatively good. Ralf Stiehler showed a new crate with
the new backplane dataway. One FADC board and FADC card are ready.
We will try to test the new FADC crate in Munich before
sending it to Barcelona.
- The amplifier-splitter-stretcher Munich board is
ready for fabrication. The discriminator
level and discriminator output width for the trigger
will be individually adjusted for
each channel from the control computer.
Right now a RS232 connector is planned but we aim to
having a CANopen interface in the final design.
Adjusting the discriminator threshold from remote allows to
reduce the trigger rate in hot pixels (stars in them)
when the individual pixel rates or the currents
are too high.
Each channel will switch individually
to low gain when it goes over a certain (fixed -not
adjustable from computer) threshold. A general flag
informing the DAQ that at least one channel has switched
to low gain may be implemented for data compression online
although its utility has been questioned: a star may set
this flag almost continously.
- We have agreed that the trigger crate will send two
digital numbers together with each event via a dummy
FADC crate which will be built by Ralf Stiehler. These numbers
will be: trigger type -pedestal, calibration, normal...-
(7 bits) and absolute time (u32).
Still unclear who is going to take care of the hardware for
the absolute time! The trigger crate will finally NOT
send the first level or second level trigger number
to the FADCs. We have decided to count the number of
second level triggers with an external scaler which
will probably communicate with the central control
via CANopen.
- We'll start testing the Mannheim communication card
in Munich: we'll put two different cards in two different
PCs and join them through an optocoupler card. This will
allow us to test a simple DAQ program. The communication
with the Mannheim card must be under control for October
if we want to use the new FADCs!
March 21, 2000.-
We haven't gone too far in hardware testing but
the system requirements have been finally defined.
-
No progress in power supply testing or FADC testing
due to loss of I/O module in FADC crate. We are waiting for Siegen to deliver
a new module. The company building the PCI cards for FADC-PC communication
Mannheim has sent already with a first version, but where is it?
-
We have come to a conclusion in raw data format that
will be read from FADC system during the III Software Meeting in the Eng.
See contribution above for details. In the same meeting we tried to fix
also the communication between the Central Control and the DAQ.
-
Toni Coarasa has joined the until now single-person
team which will write the MAGIC Data Acquisition system. We have decided
on a name for the system: it will be called CoCo (For Cortina-Coarasa
or viceversa).
October 1, 1999.-
The Lambda Electronics power supplies look quite
satisfactory. The ripple noise is around 2.5 times smaller than the one
on the supplies we're currently using. The switching noise is also smaller.
Binding the power cables around ferrite rings further reduces the switching
noise in a factor 3. In principle this should be enough for our FADCs.
We couldn't however test the whole setup (several FADC modules plus all
the power connections), so we'll have to wait for a final test.
September 1, 1999.-
We've performed a number of exhaustive tests
on the FADC response to different pulse widths, including linearity and
ability to reconstruct the pulse shape. We'll shortly write a memo for
the Oktoberfest meeting but a fast (10 min) summary can be found in the
slides of my talk in the TeV meeting (see
contribution above). Some more info:
-
The setup is still noisy. but we know that the noise
is due to the power supplies. We're testing some new power supplies made
by Lambda Electronics. We'll probably have to build a filter ourselves.
-
The syncronization problem is still there. Ralf Stiehler
has been testing some cards and a test unit should be around one of these
days.
-
I've been testing the response of RTLinux to interrupts
and it looks promising. The OS itself is easy to install and doesn't cause
any troubles as far as I've tested it.
July 1, 1999.-
From May '99, we have in Munich 32 300MHz FADC channels in its
PCI version, ie, running with a common clock and a single PCI card. See
my contribution
to
the Padua general meeting for a short description of the setup.
-
We still have problems with the synchronization of the individual channels.
One 8 ADC module was sent back to Siegen for testing. So we are actually
working with only 24 channels.
-
The FADCs run in a Pentium II 400 MHz under Linux 2.0.36 (SuSE 6.0).
-
I have ported the original program from Windows 95 to Linux. Find here
a C program which simply requests a specified number of events from the
FADC board, reads them and saves them to an ASCII file.
-
I've written an interface to read the output of the C program with Labview
and display it on screen. Click here
to see how it looks like.
-
Find here a manual in pdf for the PCI
card from ADLink we are using.
-
I've installed Real-Time Linux
on this PC too. It seems to work well. I'll try to put the PCI card to
work with it as soon as I find some time. In principle this is not going
to be of much use with this design as much of the dead time is due to the
transfer time.
Documentation
Some mirrored documents related to Data Acquisition:
and a number of useful web pages:
GENERAL STUFF:
GENERAL INFORMATION ON VENDORS:
-
VME International Physics Association (VIPA)
homepage.
-
Information on PCI -related vendors: pcisource.com
homepage.
-
VITA : richful
information on companies for VME and Open Technology.
VENDORS:
SOME OPEN SOFTWARE:
ONLINE MAGAZINES:
-
Real-Time
Magazine (Belgium) is an International Quarterly Publication specialised
in real-time issues and embedded system design, distributed world-wide
with the greatest coverage in Europe and printed in English.
-
Embedded.com
- The on-line union of premier embedded systems development information
sources! Embedded Systems Programming, Miller Freeman Directories, The
Embedded Systems Conferences, Embedded SystemsProgramming Europe, and Embedded
Systems Programming Online.
-
The Linux Journal
- News about Linux online.
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