A physics μTCA solution for the EuXFEL Clock and Control System

Abstract

The development of the Clock and Control (CC) hardware and firmware for the EuXFEL DAQ system is presented. The system will exploit the advances in data handling provided by the new telecommunication crate architecture standard for physics (MTCA.4). The CC board is responsible for synchronising the DAQ system to the overall system timing. The hardware consists of a DESY designed MTCA.4 board and a custom Rear Transition Module (RTM) designed by UCL. Each RTM board controls up to 16 Front End Modules (FEMs) for a 1 megapixel 2D detector. The firmware for the CC board generates the clock, data and veto signals for the FEMs and it receives the status as a feedback. AC-coupled LVDS links running through standard CAT5 RJ45 cables provide the FEM connection. The CC hardware and firmware are designed to provide the flexibility, extendibility and scalability to support possible future upgrades to the DAQ or larger detectors. It also reduces the cost and effort for the development of such system by using a general-purpose MTCA.4 FPGA board as its processing platform and an RTM to provide the custom functionality.