1. The ALICE Data-Acquisition Software Framework DATE V5 F. Carena, W. Carena, S. Chapeland, R. Divià, I. Makhlyueva, J-C. Marin, K. Schossmaier, C. Soós, P. Vande Vyvre, A. Vascotto for the ALICE collaboration CHEP06 13 – 17 February 2006 T.I.F.R. Mumbai, India

2. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 2 ALICE Experiment Counting rooms Cavern Computing Center DDLs 10Gb Ethernet Machine: LHC @ CERN, Point 2 ALICE detectors: 17 Online Systems: ECS, DAQ, TRG, HLT, DCS Readout: ~400 DDLs @ 2125 Mbps Storage rate: max. 1.25 GB/s Events: 2.5 MB (p-p), 87 MB (Pb-Pb) DAQ Software: DATE V5 DAQ

3. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 3 DATE V5 Software  ALICE Data Acquisition and Test Environment (DATE): software framework for the ALICE DAQ system  Latest DATE version V5: for the test and commissioning phase (Hall SXL2)  DATE V5.x kits: RPM package (~20 MB), User’s Guide (~470 pages)  Platforms: IA32 family, SLC3 using a 2.4 kernel  Development: ~20 packages, mostly in C, using CVS  Auxiliary Software: DIM, SMI, MySQL, Tcl/Tk, libshift, ROOT, VMEbus driver  Testing: reference system, on-line data challenges, test beams DATE V5 Packages

4. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 4 Architecture CTP FEEsHLT Farm DDLs TTC CTP = Central Trigger Processor TTC = Trigger, Timing, and Control FEE = Front-End Electronics HLT = High-Level Trigger DDL = Detector Data Link Storage Network PDS TDS 10Gb Ethernet TDS = Transient Data Storage PDS = Permanent Data Storage Software Framework DATE V5 LDCs GDCs Event-Building Network Servers LDC = Local Data Concentrator GDC = Global Data Collector ~200 ~50 ~10

5. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 5 LDC Dataflow equ. header LDC header equ. header sub-event payload CDH fragment LDCs DDLs payload CDH fragment payload CDH fragment readout recorder edmAgent htlAgent  readout process: - an “equipment” handles one data source - equipment library for DDL, VMEbus, etc. - merges fragments into sub-events - checks the Common Data Header (CDH)  recorder process: - streamlines sub-events - writes sub-events onto local disks - sends sub-events to GDCs  edmAgent process: - dispatches the sub-event to the GDCs - guided by the Event Distribution Manager (EDM)  htlAgent process: - handles the HLT decision and data - instructs to drop/keep the sub-event 32 bytes: - orbit number - bc number - trigger class - FEE status/error 68 bytes: - size - event ID - event type/id - timestamp - LDC  GDC 24 bytes: - size - equipment type/id

6. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 6 DDL Interfaces of an LDC LDCs CTP FEEsHLT Farm DDLs TTC  CTP  LDC: - CTP readout (L2a information) - Interaction Record (bunch crosssings  orbit)  FEE  LDC: - LDC dataflow   LDC  FEE: - data blocks and commands to the FEE - Front-end Control and Configuration (FeC2) scripts - C API by the rorc library  FEE  HLT Farm: - send a copy of the incoming fragments - performed by the DDL hardware  HLT Farm  LDC: - trigger decisions - compressed data - results of HLT processing

7. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 7 GDC Dataflow LDC header sub-event full event GDCs LDC header sub-event LDC header sub-event GDC header sub-event 68 bytes: - size - event ID - event type/id - timestamp - GDC eventBuilder mStreamRecorder  eventBuilder process: - handles incoming sub-events - assembles the full events - guided by event-building rules + LDC headers - tells its load to the EDM  mStreamRecorder process: - get full events via a memory mapped scheme - records with multiple stream - data formats: raw binary, ROOT tree - transmission protocol: standard, RFIO, ROOTd

8. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 8 Control LDCs GDCs Servers rcServer runControl  rcServer process: - launched by the xinetd daemon - starts/stops DATE processes - gets commands via DIM - shared memory control region  runControl process: - one per data acquisition; several are allowed - interface to get commands from operator or ECS  logic engine process: - hosts finite state machines (SMI) - communicates with the rcServer processes (DIM) runControl, Status display, SMI display Experiment Control System (ECS) logicEngine

9. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 9 Static Database Servers  Roles: LDC, GDC, EDM, detectors, trigger mask  Trigger: relationship detector and trigger mask  Detectors: composition of detectors/sub-detectors  Memory banks: type, size, name per role  Event building: policies for build, no-build, partial  Readout equipments: type, parameter per LDC MySQL or text files graphical tools for configurationconfiguration files >EQTYPES >Rand 1 GENDATA EvMinSize %ld EvMaxSize %ld EqId %hd triggerPattern %hd >Timer 4 TRIGGER EvInterval %ld >GLOBALPARAMS >LDCS >pcald10 + Timer (TimerAsTrigger) 1000 + Rand (1stRand) 10000 10000000 13 4 >pcald12...

10. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 10 Monitoring  statsBrowser + infoLogger: - collect and display statistics of the runs - Web access  infoBrowser + infoLogger: - collect log messages from LDCs, GDCs, servers - display, search, export log messages  AFFAIR: - performance plots of DATE specific values - utilization of system resources - Web access  MOOD: - monitoring data quality - online/offline monitoring - local/remote monitoring - plug-in ROOT modules - based on the DATE monitoring library

11. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 11 Performance LDC with 4 DDLs SLC3 + DATE V5.13 ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector Max. event rate: 3500 Hz Example: Setup for integrating detector electronics with the DAQ

12. ALICE DAQ Software Framework DATE V5 CHEP06, 13 - 17 February 2006 12 Conclusions  DATE V5: - covers the whole range of DAQ tasks for ALICE - satisfies the functional + performance requirements - runs on single machine and large-scale setups - is available as kits (RPM package) - user’s guide: ALICE-INT-2005-015 - regular training courses - is tested at reference system, data challenges, test beams - is ready for the test and commissioning phase - homepage: http://cern.ch/alice-daqhttp://cern.ch/alice-daq  Future work (DATE V6): - port to 64-bit platforms - port to SLC4 using a 2.6 kernel - electronic logbook - Transient Data Storage Manager (TDSM) - new upcoming requests Thank you!