A data acquisition interface is being developed forelementary particle physics data transported on optical fiber atbandwidths up to one gigabit per second. The interface is intendedas a development tool during the engineering of prototype dataacquisition electronics for use in future large high bandwidthexperiments such as those at the Superconducting Super Collider(SSC). No particular format or network protocol needs to beimposed on the incoming data, although the interface can beconfigured to support user defined formats. The planned interfaceis modular and expandable. It is capable of (1) receiving datablocks from more than one fiber at a time, and (2) furnishing theincoming data to consumers at more than one destination. Possibledestinations include the directly connected input/output (I/O)interconnects of workstations or personal computers as well asstandard networks. The initial I/O bus connection will be viasmall computer system interface; and the initial network connectionfor data readout will be the Ethernet. The primary intent is tofree the designer of frontend electronics with fiber readout fromthe need to acquire expertise in either network protocols or thedetails of I/O interfacing to workstations, personal computers, orother user-friendly computing platforms during the turn-on,debugging, and early cosmic-ray or test beam evaluation phases ofelectronics development. System architecture features VME forcontrol, configuration, testing, and low bandwidth access to datablocks, as well as a dedicated 128 megabyte/second block transportpath, which would enable a data block received at an input moduleto be distributed to one or more output modules with a minimumamount of protocol overhead. The Phase I effort focuses ondetermining the range of parameters over which the interface isconfigurable, establishing the complete hardware and softwarearchitecture, and designing the base level hardware. Thearchitecture and engineering designs developed in Phase I will thenform the basis of a complete working prototype unit to beimplemented in Phase II.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee:As engineers develop front-end readout electronicsfor future high bandwidth elementary particle physics experiments,they will be freed from the need to understand networking protocolson optical fibers and/or I/O schemes that will not be present inthe final detector. Instead, knowledge of these details will bepresent only in the architectural layer represented by the proposedinterface. This process will eliminate a considerable amount ofunnecessary engineering effort and permit a larger amount of userdata to flow through any given fiber in high bandwidth front-enddata link applications. In addition, the interface may serve as atest-bed for the development of schemes for distributing individualevents to multiple consumers.
