Speaker
Sam Silverstein
(Stockholm University)
Description
The challenges of producing high-performance and low-latency
realtime systems for LHC have led many groups to design
systems with higher channel density and greater
interconnectivity between modules. Custom backplanes with
2mm Hard Metric connectors provide the high pin counts
necessary for these systems, but also present new problems,
including increased insertion and extraction forces,
vulnerable and easily damaged pins, and other long-term
maintenance issues.
The ATLAS Level-1 calorimeter trigger processor presents a
near “worst-case” example of such a system. The Jet/Et and
em/hadron subsystems use a full-custom 21-slot 9U backplane
fully populated with 2mm HM connectors with a total of 1148
signal and ground pins per module. In this paper we present
our solutions for reducing insertion/extraction force,
providing strain relief for hundreds of connected cables
while maintaining accessibility, and maintaining and
repairing the backplane over the lifetime of LHC.
Author
Sam Silverstein
(Stockholm University)
Co-author
C. Bohm
(Stockholm University)
