Speaker
Description
The next generation of particle detectors will feature unprecedented readout rates and require optimizing lossy data compression and transmission from front-end application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to the off-detector trigger processing logic. Typically, channel aggregation and thresholding are applied, removing information useful for particle reconstruction in the process. A new approach to this challenge is directly embedding machine learning (ML) algorithms in ASICs on the detector front-end to allow intelligent data compression before transmission. We present an algorithm optimized for the High-Granularity Endcap Calorimeter (HGCal) installed in the CMS Experiment for the high-luminosity upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider. We trained a neural-network (NN) autoencoder to achieve optimal compression fidelity for physics reconstruction while respecting hardware constraints on internal parameter precisions, computational (circuit) complexity, and area footprint. The autoencoder improves over non-ML algorithms in reconstructing low-energy signals in high-occupancy environments. Quantization-aware training is performed using qKeras and is implemented in RTL using the hls4ml compiler tool. Finally, we discuss our solution's flexibility, wherein sensors may be individually tuned to optimize performance across the full detector and over the range of expected run conditions during the detector's lifetime.
