Robert Ball

On-chamber readout system for the ATLAS MDT muon spectrometer

The ATLAS MDT Muon Spectrometer is a system of approximately 380 000 pressurized cylindrical drift tubes of 3 cm diameter and up to 6 m in length. These monitored drift tubes (MDTs) are precision glued to form superlayers, which in turn are assembled into precision chambers of up to 432 tubes each. Each chamber is equipped with a set of mezzanine cards containing analog and digital readout circuitry sufficient to read out 24 MDTs per card. Up to 18 of these cards are connected to an on-chamber DAQ element referred to as a chamber service module (CSM). The CSM multiplexes data from the mezzanine cards and outputs this data on an optical fiber which is received by the off-chamber DAQ system. Thus, the chamber forms a highly self-contained unit with DC power in and a single optical fiber out. The MDTs, due to their length, require a terminating resistor at their far end to prevent reflections. The readout system has been designed so that thermal noise from this resistor remains the dominant noise source of the system. This level of noise performance has been achieved and maintained in large scale on-chamber tests.

The DYNES Instrument: A Description and Overview

Scientific innovation continues to increase requirements for the computing and networking infrastructures of the world. Collaborative partners, instrumentation, storage, and processing facilities are often geographically and topologically separated, as is the case with LHC virtual organizations. These separations challenge the technology used to interconnect available resources, often delivered by Research and Education (RE a delicate balance is required to serve both long-lived, high capacity network flows, as well as more traditional end-user activities. The advent of dynamic circuit services, a technology that enables the creation of variable duration, guaranteed bandwidth networking channels, allows for the efficient use of common network infrastructures. These gains are seen particularly in locations where overall capacity is scarce compared to the (sustained peak) needs of user communities. Related efforts, including those of the LHCOPN [3] operations group and the emerging LHCONE [4] project, may take advantage of available resources by designating specific network activities as a “high priority”, allowing reservation of dedicated bandwidth or optimizing for deadline scheduling and predicable delivery patterns. This paper presents the DYNES instrument, an NSF funded cyberinfrastructure project designed to facilitate end-to-end dynamic circuit services [2]. This combination of hardware and software innovation is being deployed across R&E networks in the United States at selected end-sites located on University Campuses. DYNES is peering with international efforts in other countries using similar solutions, and is increasing the reach of this emerging technology. This global data movement solution could be integrated into computing paradigms such as cloud and grid computing platforms, and through the use of APIs can be integrated into existing data movement software.

Plasma panel detectors for MIP detection for SLHC and a test chamber design

Performance demands for high and super-high luminosity at the LHC (up to 1035 cm−2 sec−1 after the 2017 shutdown) and at future colliders demand high resolution tracking detectors with very fast time response and excellent temporal and spatial resolution. We are investigating a new radiation detector technology based on Plasma Display Panels (PDP), the underlying engine of panel plasma television displays. The design and production of PDPs is supported by four decades of industrial development. Emerging from this television technology is the Plasma Panel Sensor (PPS), a novel variant of the micropattern radiation detector. The PPS is fundamentally an array of micro-Geiger plasma discharge cells operating in a non-ageing, hermetically sealed gas mixture. We report on the PPS development program, including design of a PPS Test Cell.

73.1: Large-Area Plasma-Panel Radiation Detectors for Nuclear Medicine Imaging to Homeland Security and the Super Large Hadron Collider

A new radiation sensor derived from plasma panel display technology is introduced. It has the capability to detect ionizing and non-ionizing radiation over a wide energy range and the potential for use in many applications. The principle of operation is described and some early results presented.

An inexpensive, high performance pulse-height readout system for proportional chambers

Abstract We describe a simple system to read out pulse-height information from a large number of proportional chambers. Its main features are simplicity, low noise, and wide dynamic range. A complete system with 6000 channels was built for less than

Development of a plasma panel radiation detector: Recent progress and key issues

7 per wire, including fabrication and cabling. Typical readout time is

Progress in the development of a Plasma Panel Detector

A radiation detector based on plasma display panel technology, which is the principal component of plasma television displays is presented. Plasma Panel Sensor (PPS) technology is a variant of micropattern gas radiation detectors. The PPS is conceived as an array of sealed plasma discharge gas cells which can be used for fast response (O(5ns) per pixel), high spatial resolution detection (pixel pitch can be less than 100 micrometer) of ionizing and minimum ionizing particles. The PPS is assembled from non-reactive, intrinsically radiation-hard materials: glass substrates, metal electrodes and inert gas mixtures. We report on the PPS development program, including simulations and design and the first laboratory studies which demonstrate the usage of plasma display panels in measurements of cosmic ray muons, as well as the expansion of experimental results on the detection of betas from radioactive sources.

UNIDAQ, real-time response of the system

Plasma Display Panels (PDP), the underlying engine of panel plasma television displays, are being investigated for their utility as radiation detectors called Plasma Panel Sensors (PPS). The PPS a novel variant of a micropattern radiation detector, is intended to be a fast, high resolution detector comprised of an array of plasma discharge cells operating in a hermetically sealed gas mixture. We report on the PPS development effort, including recent laboratory measurements.

A semi automatic fortran translator for the FNAL second generation ACP

This paper describes a real-time response of UNIDAQ. Interrupt task response time and task switching (context switching) time are measured for real-time UNIX (LynxOS) systems and standard UNIX systems. Here we show the correlation between the context switching time and the values of a benchmark program, SPECint92. We also show distributions of the response time for various operating systems (OS). A performance evaluation tool, DAQBENCH, was used for the measurements.

Drift time spectrum and gas monitoring in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer precision chambers

Abstract In preparation for building a 250 VUP second generation Fermilab ACP system at Michigan for the CERN L3 experiment, we have developed a semi-automatic pre-compiler to convert event oriented programs into parallel code for the ACP.