G. Ambrosini

The ATLAS DAQ and event filter prototype “−1” project

Abstract A project has been approved by the ATLAS Collaboration for the design and implementation of a Data Acquisition and Event Filter prototype, based on the functional architecture described in the ATLAS Technical Proposal. The prototype consists of a full “vertical” slice of the ATLAS Data Acquisition and Event Filter architecture, including all the hardware and software elements of the data flow, its control and monitoring as well as all the elements of a complete on-line system. This paper outlines the project, its goals, structure, schedule and current status and describes details of the system architecture and its components.

Software engineering techniques and CASE tools in RD13

Abstract The RD13 project was approved in April 1991 for the development of a scalable data-taking system suitable for hosting various LHC studies. One of its goals is the exploitation of software engineering techniques, in order to indicate their overall suitability for data acquisition (DAQ), software design and implementation. This paper describes how such techniques have been applied to the development of components of the RD13 DAQ used in test-beam runs at CERN. We describe our experience with the Artifex CASE tool and its associated methodology. The issues raised when code generated by a CASE tool has to be integrated into an existing environment are also discussed.

Real-time UNIX in HEP data acquisition

Abstract Todays experimentation in high energy physics is characterized by an increasing need for sensitivity to rare phenomena and complex physics signatures, which require the use of huge and sophisticated detectors and consequently a high performance readout and data acquisition. Multi-level triggering, hierarchical data collection and an always increasing amount of processing power, distributed throughout the data acquisition layers, will impose a number of features on the software environment, especially the need for a high level of standardization. Real-time UNIX seems, today, the best solution for the platform independence, operating system interface standards and real-time features necessary for data acquisition in HEP experiments. We present the results of the evaluation, in a realistic application environment, of a Real-Time UNIX operating system: the EP/LX real-time UNIX system.