Welcome

• Manfred Krammer (CERN)

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber

ISOLDE Collaboration News

• Sean John Freeman (CERN)

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber

CAEN - Design of DAQ using SciCompiler and Open FPGA. FERS-5200: a distributed Front-End Readout System for multidetector arrays.

• Andrea Abba (Gran Sasso Science Institute (IT))

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber The increasing usage of programmable logic devices in modern trigger and data acquisition systems emphasizes the advantages in having a general-purpose reusable mixed-signal platform, typically called open FPGA board, with custom processing algorithm implemented in firmware. The benefits of using programmable logic devices with respect to standard logic modules (like NIM logic modules) is remarkable: a single programmable logic device includes the potentiality of hundreds of thousands of standard logic modules merging in a single device analog and digital signal processing. Even if several ready-to-use FPGA board are available, learning a new language like VHDL or Verilog to develop a custom logic/readout system can be a difficult step for most people. In this presentation, we show an innovative method to simplify the firmware development. The method is based on a graphical programming interface consisting of large ip-cores catalog developed ad-hoc for nuclear physics applications. As an example, any trigger logic could be implemented by connecting specific blocks in the graphical interface, as easily as physically connecting NIM modules in a rack. The SciCompiler software allows to develop with few clicks fully customized, readout system for nuclear spectroscopy, particle imaging, neutron physics, medical imaging, exploiting, ready to use, virtual instruments like scalers, counters, TDC, energy filters, charge integration, Pulse Shape Discriminators. SciCompiler easy implements processing algorithms and also create all necessary readout interfaces and libraries to build up the full readout chain from the detector to the data storage. The SciCompiler focuses the development on the final application and does not require a any deep knowledge of FPGA programming, making the design of the firmware as simple as connect cables between real instruments. Several open FPGA boards are available, with or without ADCs, ranging from 1 to 128 channels up to hundreds MSPS. Modern physics experiments usually rely on experimental setup where it is possible to find a wide variety of detectors: silicon microstrip trackers, plastic scintillator calorimeters, LAr cryostats readout by a Time Projection Chamber, spectrometers composed of several drift tubes and resistive plate chambers, etc. Nowadays, waveform digitizers and/or ASIC-based front-end cards are well-established readout electronics to build a reliable system hosting many readout channels. The FERS-5200 is the new CAEN Front-End Readout System, answering the challenging requirement to provide flexibility and cost-effectiveness in the readout of large detector arrays. FERS-5200 is a distributed and easy-scalable platform integrating the whole readout chain of the experiment, from detector front-end to DAQ. It is based on compact ASIC-based front-end cards integrating A/D conversion and data processing, which can be ideally spread over a large detector volume without drawbacks on the readout performance. Synchronization, event building and DAQ is managed by a single Concentrator board, capable of sustaining thousands of readout channels.

CERN Ombud's insights from 2021 for today

• Laure Esteveny (CERN)

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber Laure Esteveny is the CERN Ombud since 15 April 2021. She has worked 36 years for the Laboratory in different functions and jobs. She works as a computing engineer and project lead until 2003, then moved on to Internal Audit, She was Head of Internal Audit during the mandate of Rolf Heuer. In the International Relations sector she led the project which set up the CERN Alumni network and was Head of CERN Alumni relations until December 2020. She looks forward to this opportunity with the ISOLDE workshop to exchange with the ISOLDE community. She will present the role of Ombud and its creation in 2011, and will share some consolidated data for the period 2021-2022 on the cases exposed in the Ombud’s Office. Laure will further give some key observations and insights derived from “ombudsing” at CERN. She will be pleased to respond to all your questions.

Group Photo Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber

Workshop Dinner Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber

Antimatter matters: the first decade and the next decade of the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment

• Chris Parkes (University of Manchester (GB))

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber The Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) collaboration builds and operates one of the four large experiments at the LHC. We have published over 600 scientific papers in our first decade of operations. We have discovered differences in the behaviour of matter and antimatter in three new system and studied particles that can oscillate into their own antiparticles. We have found over fifty new particles, including exotic particles containing four or five quarks. By the quirks of quantum mechanics, we are searching for new fundamental physics at energies higher than those of the LHC beams. We have recently installed our new detector upgrading the technology to allow us to further our studies, taking ten times more data and operating for the next decade. Highlights of the science programme and of the new detector system will be described.

Prizes and Closing Remarks

• Sean John Freeman (CERN)

Room: 503/1-001 - Council Chamber