V. Zivkovic

Timepix3: a 65K channel hybrid pixel readout chip with simultaneous ToA/ToT and sparse readout

The Timepix3, hybrid pixel detector (HPD) readout chip, a successor to the Timepix \cite{timepix2007} chip, can record time-of-arrival (ToA) and time-over-threshold (ToT) simultaneously in each pixel. ToA information is recorded in a 14-bit register at 40 MHz and can be refined by a further 4 bits with a nominal resolution of 1.5625 ns (640 MHz). ToT is recorded in a 10-bit overflow controlled counter at 40 MHz. Pixels can be programmed to record 14 bits of integral ToT and 10 bits of event counting, both at 40 MHz. The chip is designed in 130 nm CMOS and contains 256 × 256 pixel channels (55 × 55 μm2). The chip, which has more than 170 M transistors, has been conceived as a general-purpose readout chip for HPDs used in a wide range of applications. Common requirements of these applications are operation without a trigger signal, and sparse readout where only pixels containing event information are read out. A new architecture has been designed for sparse readout and can achieve a throughput of up to 40 Mhits/s/cm2. The flexible architecture offers readout schemes ranging from serial (one link) readout (40 Mbps) to faster parallel (up to 8 links) readout of 5.12 Gbps. In the ToA/ToT operation mode, readout is simultaneous with data acquisition thus keeping pixels sensitive at all times. The pixel matrix is formed by super pixel (SP) structures of 2 × 4 pixels. This optimizes resources by sharing the pixel readout logic which transports data from SPs to End-of-Column (EoC) using a 2-phase handshake protocol. To reduce power consumption in applications with a low duty cycle, an on-chip power pulsing scheme has been implemented. The logic switches bias currents of the analog front-ends in a sequential manner, and all front-ends can be switched in 800 ns. The digital design uses a mixture of commercial and custom standard cell libraries and was verified using Open Verification Methodology (OVM) and commercial timing analysis tools. The analog front-end and a voltage-controlled oscillator for 1.5625 ns timing resolution have been designed using full custom techniques.

VeloPix: the pixel ASIC for the LHCb upgrade

The LHCb Vertex Detector (VELO) will be upgraded in 2018 along with the other subsystems of LHCb in order to enable full readout at 40 MHz, with the data fed directly to the software triggering algorithms. The upgraded VELO is a lightweight hybrid pixel detector operating in vacuum in close proximity to the LHC beams. The readout will be provided by a dedicated front-end ASIC, dubbed VeloPix, matched to the LHCb readout requirements and the 55 × 55 μm VELO pixel dimensions. The chip is closely related to the Timepix3, from the Medipix family of ASICs. The principal challenge that the chip has to meet is a hit rate of up to 900 Mhits/s, resulting in a required output bandwidth of more than 16 Gbit/s. The occupancy across the chip is also very non-uniform, and the radiation levels reach an integrated 400 Mrad over the lifetime of the detector.VeloPix is a binary pixel readout chip with a data driven readout, designed in 130 nm CMOS technology. The pixels are combined into groups of 2 × 4 super pixels, enabling a shared logic and a reduction of bandwidth due to combined address and time stamp information. The pixel hits are combined with other simultaneous hits in the same super pixel, time stamped, and immediately driven off-chip. The analog front-end must be sufficiently fast to accurately time stamp the data, with a small enough dead time to minimize data loss in the most occupied regions of the chip. The data is driven off chip with a custom designed high speed serialiser. The current status of the ASIC design, the chip architecture and the simulations will be described.

The FE-I4 pixel readout system-on-chip resubmission for the insertable B-Layer project

The FE-I4 is a new pixel readout integrated circuit designed to meet the requirements of ATLAS experiment upgrades. The first samples of the FE-I4 engineering run (called FE-I4A) delivered promising results in terms of the requested performances. The FE-I4 team envisaged a number of modifications and fine-tuning before the actual exploitation, planned within the Insertable B-Layer (IBL) of ATLAS. As the IBL schedule was pushed significantly forward, a quick and efficient plan had to be devised for the FE-I4 redesign. This article will present the main objectives of the resubmission, together with the major changes that were a driving factor for this redesign. In addition, the top-level verification and test efforts of the FE-I4 will also be addressed.

Architectural modeling of pixel readout chips Velopix and Timepix3

We examine two digital architectures for front end pixel readout chips, Velopix and Timepix3. These readout chips are developed for tracking detectors in future high energy physics experiments. They must incorporate local intelligence in pixels for time-over-threshold measurement and sparse readout. In addition, Velopix must be immune to single-event upsets in its digital logic. The most important requirements for both chips are pixel size, timing resolution, low power and high-speed sparse readout. We describe the transaction level architectural models of the chips using SystemVerilog. The correctness of the models is ensured using Open Verification Methodology. We will also discuss the advantages gained from transaction level modeling.

GOSSIPO-4: Evaluation of a Novel PLL-Based TDC-Technique for the Readout of GridPix-Detectors

The direct readout of Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs) with bare pixel chips introduces the need for a new generation of readout electronics featuring a high spatial granularity as well as a highly accurate time measurement in each pixel. GOSSIPO-4, fabricated in a 130 nm CMOS technology, is a demonstrator ASIC investigating the potential of a new TDC-concept that is based on a chip-wide 40 MHz clock which is complemented by an additional 640 MHz clock. The latter is created upon demand by local oscillators distributed across the pixel matrix. PLL tuning of the local oscillators allows for automatic compensation of frequency fluctuations caused by process parameter, supply voltage and temperature variations. The developed PLL locks within 4 μs and achieves a duty cycle of 50.75% with a time interval error of only 23.4 ps. Mean DNL and INL of the TDC are less than 20% of the time bin size of 1.56 ns under all anticipated conditions.

Development of a low power 5.12 Gbps data serializer and wireline transmitter circuit for the VeloPix chip

A new front-end chip (VeloPix) is being developed for the readout of the silicon vertex locator detector (VELO) in the LHCb experiment after the upgrade scheduled for 2018. The chip with an active area of 2 cm2 will run at a very high hit rate (up to 500 Mhitcm−2sec−1) and will transmit large amounts of data (> 15 Gbit-per-sec) over a 1 meter low-mass copper cable. A test chip with a prototype of a 5.12 Gbps Data Serializer and Wireline Transmitter (line driver) circuit has been submitted in 130 nm CMOS technology. A multiplexer based architecture has been chosen for the implementation the serializer block. In the proposed solution a 16-to-1 round-robin multiplexer selects one bit of data at a time from either a posedge triggered section or a negedge triggered section of a 16-bit input register clocked at 320 MHz. The serializer consumes only 15 mW of power and the line driver with pre-emphasis consumes 45 mW. In this paper the circuit design is explained and some measured results are presented.

Digital column readout architectures for hybrid pixel detector readout chips

In this paper, two digital column architectures suitable for sparse readout of data from a pixel matrix in trigger-less applications are presented. Each architecture reads out a pixel matrix of 256 x 256 pixels with a pixel pitch of 55 μm. The first architecture has been implemented in the Timepix3 chip, and this is presented together with initial measurements. Simulation results and measured data are compared. The second architecture has been designed for Velopix, a readout chip planned for the LHCb VELO upgrade. Unlike Timepix3, this has to be tolerant to radiation-induced single-event effects. Results from post-layout simulations are shown with the circuit architectures.

SEU tolerant memory design for the ATLAS pixel readout chip

The FE-I4 chip for the B-layer upgrade is designed in a 130 nm CMOS process. For this design, configuration memories are based on the DICE latches where layout considerations are followed to improve the tolerance to SEU. Tests have shown that DICE latches for which layout approaches are adopted are 30 times more tolerant to SEU than the standard DICE latches. To prepare for the new pixel readout chip planned for the future upgrades, a prototype chip containing 512 pixels has been designed in a 65 nm CMOS process and a new approach is adopted for SEU tolerant latches. Results in terms of SEU and TID tolerance are presented.

The design for test architecture in digital section of the ATLAS FE-I4 chip

This paper describes an original Design-for-Test (DfT) architecture implemented in the ATLAS FE-I4 pixel readout System-on-Chip (Soc) to accommodate the higher quality demands of future generation LHC detectors. To ensure that the highest possible number of fault-free devices is used for the detector construction, the so-called production test to detect faulty devices after the manufacturing has to be executed. For that reason, we devised a straightforward and effective DfT circuitry inside the digital part of the FE-I4 that will enable high fault coverage of potential structural faults while maintaining the performance and area penalties of the entire design negligible.

ATLAS FE-I4 ASIC

The ATLAS FE-I4 ASIC is a novel pixel detector readout chip designed in a CMOS 130 nm feature size process. The chip is able to cope with high hit rate and withstand the harsh radiation environment in close proximity to the interaction point at LHC. FE-I4 will find its first application with ATLAS IBL, an additional innermost pixel layer scheduled for installation in 2013, but is also suited for the intermediate radii pixel layers for future upgrades. In this paper, the modular design concept of FE-I4 is introduced and its readout architecture, analog performance and radiation hardness are discussed. After the successful development of the first full-scale prototype version of the chip in 2010, the production version for IBL (FE-I4B) has recently become available. Here, we review the main design choices for FE-I4B and present first testing results.