1. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report1 AIDA Front end electronics Report July 2008 Progress Virtex5 FPGA choice Milestones for prototype delivery

2. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report2 Progress Completed the FEE specification. Currently out for comments (1 st July) Schematic capture started. FPGA part design. Processor peripheral component choices ML507 purchased and delivered Development kit with new FPGA.

3. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report3 Virtex5 FPGA choice Will Linux work and be useable in an FPGA without a processor ? Software development environment, Gbit rates, who else is doing it ? Can data channels share FPGA resources ? RAM and DSP blocks.

4. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report4 Experiences with ML507 Xilinx development kit ML507 : Virtex5-FXT70 containing a PowerPC 440 with 256Mbyte RAM, Gbit ethernet and other peripherals –DENX ELDK 4.1 : Public domain Embedded Linux Development Kit => cross compilers and tool kit for PPC 440 –Xilinx supply Linux kernel 2.6.25 with drivers for Virtex5 specific hardware (for example LLTemac - Gbit ethernet) –Using the ELDK can configure and build the Linux kernel for the ML507 on a Linux workstation. –Root file system via NFS on a standard server. –This was working within a couple of days of receiving the ML507 –Clear advantage of using PPC processor and Linux

5. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report5 Experiences with ML507 Testing network performance. –Use standard test program from the MIDAS data acquisition suite which uses the data acquisition transfer library to send simulated data. –Receiver is a Dell workstation running Linux with the MIDAS tape server receiver stage discarding received data. Block size 64 Kbytes. –Data transfer rate 440 blocks/sec or 28Mbyte/sec This took just as long as needed to compile the test program with the PC440 cross compiler. All MIDAS software etc will run within the PPC Linux processor

6. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report6 FPGA outline block diagram

7. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report7 FPGA resources Digital channel ( x 64 ) : 4,217kbits Memory - 65kbits per channel –Circulating buffer ( slow in fast out ): 1024x16 –Waveform store : 3072x16 –Energy queue : 10 x 36 DSP - two –MWD : one for multiply and add –Discriminator : one for multiply and add Analog channels (one per ASIC) :65kbits Buffer memory : 1024 x 16

8. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report8 FPGA choice Require –Memory : 4,282 kbits –DSP : 128 SX95T –Memory : 8,576 kbits –DSP : 640 –No processor FX70T –Memory : 5,328 kbits –DSP : 128 –PowerPC 440 processor with large LINUX user community Both types are Virtex5 with the same pcb footprint. Further FPGAs with greater resources are planned.

9. 31st July 2008AIDA FEE Report9 Milestones for Prototype FEE delivery (Changes included in blue) Complete Specification : –1 st July 2008 => Achieved Complete Schematic and PCB layout : –15th Sept 2008. => Delayed Deliver 6 FEE cards ( 6 weeks ) : –27 th Oct 2008 => medium risk Complete Prototype VHDL : –1 st December 2008 => Medium risk Commission FEE cards : –1 st February 2009 => High risk Design ASIC Mezzanine –29 th Sept 2008. => Delayed Deliver 6 ASIC Mezzanines –17 th Nov 2008 => medium risk Assemble ASICs onto Mezzanines –During Dec 2008 at Liverpool Complete Kapton board : –1 st February 2009 => low risk