AMC13 for CMS Tracker Upgrades.

Response to an e-mail request from Stefano Mersi on 2017-07-03:

What we are interested in, as a tracker upgrade community, is if we can rely on the AMC13 for the system tests in the next ~10 years. If we can use the AMC13, then we will rely on that, otherwise (hopefully not) we will have to find a custom solution.

See ACES 2014 Poster and JINST paper on the AMC13 for published references.

1. how to operate the AMC13

See documentation at http://www.amc13.info. Please ask if something is not clear!

2. if there is a XDAQ module we can use

Yes and no. There is not a generic xDAQ module. HCAL uses xDAQ and there is AMC13 support. Best to talk with someone in HCAL about this. The repository has moved from CVS to SVN and now to GIT and I don't even know exactly how to find it anymore!

3. if there is a standalone piece of software we can adapt to EUDAQ

There is a set of C++ classes which support low-level operations on the AMC13. These are kept in the CACTUS repository here along with IPbus and friends.

Included is a command-line tool AMC13Tool2 which provides quite a lot of functionality.

There are also some sample codes in the ...dev_tools/sample_cpp_code directory including one TakeData.cxx which initializes one AMC13 and collects data from it.

4. which signal input/output does the AMC13 feature (and possibly a pointer to its documentation)

The standard AMC13 as used in HCAL and other subsystems has only FIber I/O on the front panel. See [[http://ohm.bu.edu/~hazen/CMS/AMC13/AMC13_Short_Spec_05Oct2012.pdf][AMC13 Short Specification]. In addition there are MicroTCA bus connections for clock distribution, TTC signal distribution and data acquisition from AMC modules. The backplane signals and their use are described in CMS MicroTCA Crate Specification....

The T3 PC board (which holds JTAG and USB connectors in the standard version) has been replaced by a new one for the TCDS subsystem. This is documented on the AMC13 Design Files page on the main AMC13 wiki. This board provides a small number of NIM and CMOS inputs and outputs which can be used for special purposes if firmware support is added.

5. if it's possible to access the AMC13 at event building to collect information on the event itself: in fact we would be very interested to record the phase of the trigger with respect to the clock event-by-event

This is not included in the existing firmware but could perhaps be added. This would require further discussion.

6. if we can send back a "backpressure" signal *from the AMC13* to* coordinate with a TLU unit and more in general

The AMC13 already collects a TTS state from each AMC card in the MicroTCA crate, and combines this with the AMC13 internal TTS state, providing the output on a fiber to the TCDS system. Details in the user manual here.

7. whether we can foresee some (minor) modifications to the current firmware to support possible ad-hoc features, and in this case who could implement said changes

This is planned. We fully expect to have AMC13 operating in CMS for many years, including after LS3, so we plan to provide support. The AMC13 is supported by the Electronics Design Facility (http://edf.bu.edu) which operates independently of any research group, so as long as a modest amount of funding is available.

As a back-up, Magnus Hansen's group is familiar with the AMC13 operation and have produced a large production run of modules and overseen their testing. In case of some loss of support on the US side (not foreseen) they could take responsibility.

-- EricHazen - 2017-07-10