Detector DAQ

1. Detector DAQ Jean-Sebastien Graulich, Geneva • Achievements Since CM27 • DAQ Upgrade • CAM/DAQ integration • Online Software • Trigger System upgrade • Schedule Milestones • Summary Jean-Sebastien Graulich

2. Achievements since CM27 • DAQ system has been upgraded • During user run in July • Progress in DAQ/CAM integration • DATE Status used by alarm handler • CAM data ready to be included in the data stream • Online Software • Unpacking: Exception handling • Online Monitoring debugging Jean-Sebastien Graulich

3. DAQ System Upgrade • Happened in mid July • Standard Online OS (Centos 5.4) installed • New version of DATE • New set of PCs (miceacq07, miceacq08, miceraid2a) • Problems Solved  • Standard system backup and restoration procedure • Compatibility with James Software -> allowed talking with CAM • Online Software repository • Replacement of the faulty VME/PCI interface causing synchronisation problems All user files on miceacq04, miceaq06 and miceraid1a will disappear ! Jean-Sebastien Graulich

4. DAQ System upgrade (2) • Problems Caused  • End of Run script don’t work -> automated move file for storage won’t workAlternatives exist • All Online Reconstruction applications broken !!! • The data source was hardcoded • The procedure to edit and recompile the code was not documented • About ½ day of beam time lost but a lot of lessons taken from that crisis Jean-Sebastien Graulich

5. CAM/DAQ integration (1) • DATE talks to EPICS • There is an EPICS Process Variable dedicated to DAQ status • DATE uses James’ library to write its status: TAKING_DATA, RUN_COMPLETE, IDLE or ERROR • Necessary for • Automatic filling of CDB • DAQ alarm handling (PierrickHanlet) DAQ alarms implemented so far: - Particle trigger mismatch (event building error - now very rare) - Particle trigger rate drops to 0 (ISIS trip) - Particle trigger rate larger than 150/spill (event too big for monitoring) • Drawback • Run Time Dependency DAQ won’t start if the DATE Status EPICS server is not running Jean-Sebastien Graulich

6. CAM/DAQ integration (2) • EPICS talks to DAQ • DATE is able to read any EPICS Process Variable at the end of the spill and insert it in the data stream • Necessary for • Access to Magnet currents in offline and online analysis • Drawback • Unpacking backward compatibility in case (very likely) the list of variables changes Reminder: Configuration Database contains SET values (and some meta data) EPICS Archiver stores READ values but it is not synchronized with the Spill A subset of critical READ values, necessary for analysis, are included in the data file so that the analysis doesn’t require a connection to the CDB Jean-Sebastien Graulich

7. FAQ • Why not getting the magnet currents from the CDB ? • Because the CDB contains the set value and you want to know the real field the particle has seen to reconstruct its trajectory • But the alarm handler checks that the currents are close enough to the set values • We don’t know a priory if the alarm handler limits on those variables are valid • What if I want to check that the read value is close enough to the set value ? • Online, this is done by the alarm handler • Offline, if you have doubt, you can connect to the CDB to get the set values and then loop over the spill to do your checks Jean-Sebastien Graulich

8. Online Software • Bug fixed in Online Monitoring: • Data format exception (invalid event) • One fADC board (used by CKOV) is producing corrupted data header : event size information is wrong • Data unpacking was crashing • Now, the spill is skipped • TDC errors (unexpected word) • A damaged cable was causing a large number of hits in TDC05 (used for KL tags) • TDC overflow word in the data flow was not recognized by the unpacking -> error message • Run transition • Online Monitoring GUI had to be deactivated at the end of each run, otherwise it was frozen and had to be restarted Jean-Sebastien Graulich

9. Online Software (2) • Main open issues: • Online Monitoring should run from files • Using the very same analysis code ! • Also true for online reconstruction applications • Up to now, we maintained two codes differing by only a few lines • File version of Online Monitoring is broken -> We can’t reproduce online plots ! • Tracker DAQ and unpacking • Code exists but is not compatible with the existing framework -> David Adey • Unpacking of EPICS data • Nobody can use it if it’s not unpacked Jean-Sebastien Graulich

10. Schedule Milestones • From CM27 • CAM data in Online Data Stream ready but not yet used • DAQ System upgrade July 10 • DAQ in alarm handler (audible alarm) July 10 • Unpacking and Monitoring software release August 10 • Tracker integrated in DAQ and OLM July 10 -> Nov 10 • Trigger System upgrade (+documentation)August 10 -> Dec 10 • TOF TDC Clock Synchronization Dec 10 • Do we really need it ? • Burst Gate Signal in the Trigger System Need support here • New Milestones • Unpacking of EPICS data Nov 10 • New Online Software release (OLM from files) Dec 10 • EMR integrated in DAQ and OLM March 11 Jean-Sebastien Graulich

11. Summary • DAQ System upgrade done • DAQ in Alarm handler • Online Software debugging • Integration of Tracker DAQ has started Jean-Sebastien Graulich