1. Federico Alessio Università degli Studi di Torino An Italian on … Time

2. Federico Alessio08/02/20082 Way before CERN… 3 rd February 1983Now Born in Torino – one week after schedule and under the snow… Physics Department distance = 24 m (± 1) One of my grandfathers was born in Lyon, the other one in Pennsylvania: none of them actually got a foreign passport, so I am definitely ITALIAN

3. Federico Alessio08/02/20083 Few words about Torino... Sweden won the men’s hockey gold medal...

4. Federico Alessio08/02/20084 Just before CERN… … for 14 years … Now SCHOOL TIME My “school time” period was similar to that of most italian students: I learnt about latin, economics, math, physics, music … BUT ALSO ABOUT the importance of family ME! the value of sport

5. Federico Alessio08/02/20085 Just before CERN… … for 14 years … Now SCHOOL TIME … AND ME! how to produce wine from grapes how to build houses how to play football Everything has been very useful and definitely necessary to reach CERN…

6. Federico Alessio08/02/20086 Almost at CERN… 2002Now UNIVERSITY TIME University of Torino, Physics Department :  Bachelor degree in Physics in September 2005 2005 Thesis: “Study and characterization of front-end amplifiers in SiGe technology” At the end of 2004, I was part of one of those school groups that come to CERN on a holiday trip basically to just waste some time having fun and playing with lead/glass scintillators in front of the old DELPHI detector... but, I was very interested and when I saw the big red magnet of CMS parked in point 5, I decided to study Physics. Maybe reaching CERN one day… Unfortunately I don’t have pictures that represent that crucial moment.

7. Federico Alessio08/02/20087 Some work before CERN For my bachelor thesis, I spent 5 months in the Microelectronics Lab in Torino studying and (trying to) design(ing) front-end amplifiers in Si/SiGe CMOS/BiCMOS technologies. First design of a generic (and simple) front-end amplifier (Charge-Sensitive Amplifier) using Sun-Cadence software CMOS Technology: n-type and p-type MOSFET in the same semiconductor substrate HBT BiCMOS Technology: n-type and p-type MOSFET and BJT transistors in the same semiconductor substrate Compared to...

8. Federico Alessio08/02/20088 Some work before CERN The mixed technology benefits from the merits of the CMOS transistors and the BJT transistors  High device density due to the use of BJT only in crucial places  Higher gain-bandwidth product  Better performance (faster)  Lower power consumption  Higher semplicity of production Perfect to design amplifiers to process very fast signals with a high amplification at higher frequency and lower power consumption than usual MOSFETs FE op-amps Even better results if Ge grown on Si:  Si used just as substrate, Ge used for actual conduction of e -  Lower energy gap for conduction, lower consumption, better performances  Faster = 4 ns for 1000 fC signal  Bigger amplification, up to 25 K times  Higher bandwidth, up to 10 GHz  Linearity respected

9. Federico Alessio08/02/20089 Some work before CERN I wasn’t sure yet about choosing electronics as my university specialization, so I amused myself with some state solid physics and some human cells... Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes in the Scanning Electron Microscope and animal neurons grew through electronic inputs sent via nanowires.

10. Federico Alessio08/02/200810 Some work before CERN Carbon Nanotube? Single layer of a graphite crystal that is rolled up into a seamless cylinder, one atom thick, with a small number of carbon atoms along the circumference and a long length along the cylinder axis. Main properties:  Electrical Conductivity: Resistance to conduction depends on quantum mechanical effects so that a SWNTs can be used as a quantum wire on FET.  Optical Activity: electron in SWNTs can be easily excited, so that a SWNTs can be used as optoelectronic device.  Mechanical Strenght: due to the streghtness of the C-C bonds, SWNTs have a very large Young modulus in their axial direction and it’s very flexible because of the great lenght.  Chemical Purity: very low rate of defects in SWNTs due to the strong covalent C-C bonds Production of a nanowire to connect the electrodes of a microscopic Field-Effect Transistor used to grow bio-cells

11. Federico Alessio08/02/200811 Finally at CERN… Now SUMMER STUDENT 4 july – 29 september 2006... I was selected by Roberto Campagnolo to take part in the commissioning of the TPC of ALICE experiment, but I was involved in many other activities:  assembling electronics boards and removing non- working boards directly in point 2  being active part of the data analysis of a good number of FE electronics board of the TPC using root  joining many briefing meeting of the TPC ALICE group in order to have the first impression of the importance of meeting (... )  having the opportunity to learn VERILOG and VHDL and to work directly on a programmable FPGA on which I could “play” by myself Implementation of a Trigger Adapter Module in Verilog Master Degree in Electronics Engeneering and...

12. Federico Alessio08/02/200812 Finally at CERN… SUMMER STUDENTThe Trigger Adapter Module is a module that was needed to be used during the commissioning of the TPC when installed in the cavern. I developed the part of the firmware that has been implemented in an FPGA on a custom board which will receive NIM, TTL and LVDS signals from cosmic, laser and pulser tests on the TPC  simulation and synthesis  implementation on an FPGA  test on the FPGA it worked!... THAT’S NOT ALL...

13. Federico Alessio08/02/200813 Finally at CERN… SUMMER STUDENT I met my friends after 22 hours I reached CERN and of course we enjoyed the World Cup (and not only) at Charly’s...

14. Federico Alessio08/02/200814 Finally at CERN… SUMMER STUDENT I proudly organized the CERN Summer Football Tournament in front of building 40... They were in LHCb She is in LHCb

15. Federico Alessio08/02/200815 Finally at CERN… SUMMER STUDENT I met people from everywhere and people of any culture and type...

16. Federico Alessio08/02/200816 1 February 2007Now TECHNICAL STUDENT Richard selected me to alleviate the amount of work that he had to face during the past year… Finally at CERN… “Official” proposal of working on the coarse and fine time alignment of the experiment. The project involves the development of an electronics monitor board (Beam Phase and Intensity Monitor) for precise bunch-by-bunch measurements of the intensity and the phase of the LHC beams involving both analogue and digital electronics, and the development of GUI interfaces to monitor the information. Moreover, the control of a new system (RF2TTC System) provided by the LHC group has to be implemented to distribute the clock to the whole TFC system and then to the experiment. A User Interface will help the users to interact with the systems. I have been also proposed to be active part of the installing, commissioning and support of the whole TFC system and I to take part to some sessions of the global LHCb commissioning. Master Thesis: “A complete system for monitoring and controlling the timing of the LHCb experiment”

17. Federico Alessio08/02/200817 Motivations: LHCb Timing Aid in the coarse and fine time alignment of the experiment  Monitor individual bunch position  Measure bunch intensity bunch-by-bunch for trigger conditions  Measure bunch phase bunch-by-bunch for long-term stability in clock distribution General problems in the LHCb Timing:  Clock locked with the beam transmitted over 14 km of optical fibres at a depth of ~1 m: estimated diurnal (200 ps) and seasonal drift (7 ns) due to temperature variations (AB/RF ref.)  Bunch clocks per beam are independent and can be quite different  During the filling of the LHC a bunch or part of a bunch can end up outside the right bucket position producing the so-called ghost bunches  Beam can be dumped if its quality and stability are insufficient... slide from LEADE meeting on 3/12/2007

18. Federico Alessio08/02/200818 Project: BPIM + RF2TTC Proposal of a complete system to monitor, control, and time align LHCb experiment  Gives a clear structure of the beam injected taking the bipolar pulse coming from BPTX  Determines the position of the orbit locally and monitors the clock phase with respect to the bunch passing through the detector  Determines the exact trigger conditions for sampling events in the detector and determines the exact trigger conditions for significant events or not, checking whether the detector samples a bunch with protons or an empty bunch  Produces a relative measure of the intensities of bunches  Produces an empty crossing veto for the sampled events whenever a bunch is absent in the expected location  Searches for ghost bunches  Gives instantaneous information about the presence/absence of beam Beam Phase and Intensity MonitorRF2TTC System  Distributes the Bunch clocks and Orbit clocks to all the ODINs and therefore to all the FEE of each sub- detector  Able to convert, clean, synchronize and select the clocks for the experiment  Fine and coarse adjustments on the clock signals Monitoring and controlling performed using a user- friendly GUI interface via the Experimental Control System (ECS)... slide from my thesis presentation on 21/12/2007

19. Federico Alessio08/02/200819 In depth: specifications of BPIM The 1 st prototype Developing custom made acquisition board: –6U VME, one per beam –Online analysis of a bipolar pulse: FWHM 1 ns at 40 MHz, ±5Vmax processing amplitude (onboard attenuator for higher pulses) –Measure time between bunch arrivals and LHC bunch clock locally Bunch-by-bunch for a full LHC turn filled in FIFO Triggered via controls interface <100 ps precision and averaging phase as a function of bunch crossing –Measure continuously bunch intensities bunch-by-bunch 12-bit resolution by integrating pulse per bunch Output intensity on front-panel at 40 MHz (8/4-bit resolution) Triggered via controls interface, fill in FIFO with intensities for full turn Intensity per bunch as a function of bunch crossing –Readout and control via Experiment Control System, CCPC based interface and VME alternatively –Interfaced directly to LHCb Timing and Fast Control system –Data processing on FPGA... slide from LEADE meeting on 3/12/2007

20. Federico Alessio08/02/200820 The analog chain for the intensity measurement is working as simulated In depth: analog processing... slide from LEADE meeting on 3/12/2007

21. Federico Alessio08/02/200821 The board has extensively been tested in laboratory …  Linearization to be performed in the FPGA during the data processing  Understanding of a TDC problem in order to improve the confidence on the distribution In depth: performance in the lab... slide from LEADE meeting on 3/12/2007

22. Federico Alessio08/02/200822 … and in the SPS with a LHC-like structure 72 bunches (in 3 groups) spaced by 25 ns.  Undershoot of the baseline after the sampling of the bunches to be understood In depth: performance in the SPS... slide from LEADE meeting on 3/12/2007

23. Federico Alessio08/02/200823 Crate controller: CAEN USB to VME interface 6U VMEx64 crate RF_Tx trasmitter: located in IP4, transmits the timing signals to the electronics RF_Rx receiver: receives the timing signal from the RF_Tx RF2TTC board: interface card between the receiver module and the TTC systems of the electronics Clock Fanout: dual 1:18 ECL and 4 NIM The LHC provides the Orbit clock and the Bunch clocks through the RF2TTC System In depth: the RF2TTC system The control system is completely developed and fully working: you’ll find it in the pit soon …

24. Federico Alessio08/02/200824 The project is complete, fully working and is being installed and commissioned with the TFC system. By means of the BPIM, the beam is monitored bunch-by-bunch in order to have a measurement of the phase of each single bunch clock with respect to the clock edge sent by the LHC. A bunch of second prototypes of the board are already under production and will be completely tested during January/February. The control system is being developed and will be tested with the second prototype in order to have a complete system. By means of the RF2TTC system, the clock sent to the TFC system is controlled. Fine adjustments can be performed on the clock in order to time align the experiment and to let the experiment sample events at the optimal point taking into account all the possible causes which can eventually shift the clock. Conclusions The performance tests as well as the two test beams in the SPS gave successful results. The system will be then crucial for the timing of the LHCb, which can be monitored and controlled easily. The project has been presented to the LHCb and to the technical committee LEADE (LHC Experimental Accelerator Data Exchange Working Group) receiving extremely positive feedback and comments. The other LHC experiment showed their interests: ALICE will receive a second fully tested prototype board during March 2008 to be used for the time alignment of the ALICE detector. The multitasking features allow the system to be used, adapted, and installed in any experiments similar to the ones at the LHC at CERN.... slide from my thesis presentation on 21/12/2007... THAT’S NOT ALL...

25. Federico Alessio08/02/200825 I took part in the installation and commissioning of the whole TFC system, still ongoing... and I am taking part of the commissioning session of the LHCb detector in pit 8 control room … TECHNICAL STUDENT Finally at CERN…

26. Federico Alessio08/02/200826 TECHNICAL STUDENT Thanks to the electronics workshop, I managed to build a new version of the “Diode Bridge”... Finally at CERN…

27. Federico Alessio08/02/200827 TECHNICAL STUDENT I got the opportunity to raise my level of experience in building houses... Finally at CERN… ME! RICHARD! HELPERS: GIULIA & EMILY

28. Federico Alessio08/02/200828 TECHNICAL STUDENT In the end I learnt about the Norse Mythology... Finally at CERN… FRIGG FREJA THOR

29. Federico Alessio08/02/200829 Now DOCTORAL STUDENT? Does someone have a doctoral proposal and is willing to hire me? (It’s not a joke, perhaps I’ll be here until the end of May) After CERN… Future Grazie per l’attenzione / Thanks for listening Merci pour l’attention / Gracias para l’atencion Danke für das Hören / Tack själv till deras uppmärksamhet

30. Federico Alessio08/02/200830 extras

31. Federico Alessio08/02/200831 “… the TFC System is the real heartbeat of the Read-Out system. It is responsible for controlling and distributing timing, trigger, synchronous and asynchronous commands to the LHCb Front-End Electronics. It is also responsible to distribute the clock to the electronics of the whole experiment through the RF2TTC board and to monitor bunch-by- bunch the LHC beam through the BPIM board … “ TECHNICAL STUDENT Finally at CERN… (extras)

32. Federico Alessio08/02/200832 It is of extreme importance that the phase of the LHC clock remains stable with respect to the bunch arrival times at the location of the LHCb detector Monitoring performed using two Beam Pick-Up Timing Experiments (BPTXs) dedicated to LHCb and located along the LHC ring: formed by 4 electrostatic button electrodes producing a bipolar signal which is the representation of the beam (bunch-by-bunch) inside the beam pipe Mathematical modeling Finally at CERN… (extras)

33. Federico Alessio08/02/200833 6 logical blocks: - Intensity measurement chain - Phase measurement chain - Clock distribution - Digital processing and data accumulation - I/O interfaces - Board control via ECS Every block has been tested and adjusted, and all blocks are working! The first prototype has been tested extensively in laboratory and in two test beams in the SPS. A second prototype has been submitted and is being produced. Will be tested during January/February with the dedicated Control System and installed in the LHCb cavern. Finally at CERN… (extras)

34. Federico Alessio08/02/200834 The first prototype has been mounted and debugged in stages: a lot of modifications (thanks to the Mounting Workshop!) and understanding of the problems.  The analog chain is designed with current-feedback amplifiers: impressive slew rate and high gain-bandwith.  The stabilization of the rectifier chains has been a difficult task: the current feedback amplifiers are very unstable, but the best configuration has been found  New designs of the integrator have been implemented: improve stability, undershoot and baseline  Programmable attenuator fixed and constant-level-crossing method with programmable level (DAC)  Fixed Start and Stop signals for the TDC, still a problem with one mode of operation to be investigated with the manufactury (ACAM)  A lot of PECL – LVPECL and LVPECL – TTL translators implemented for improvements  Firmware written and implemented to control FIFOs for Intensity and Phase measurement  FIFOs are autonomous: each FIFO has its own RCLK, WCLK, OE, RENB, WENB The board has very satisfactory performance! Finally at CERN… (extras)

35. Federico Alessio08/02/200835 Main functionalities available in the board:  manual or automatic control of the board  selection of the clocks to feed to the TFC system. Bunch clock can be locked either on the Ref Clock or on one of the Bunch Clocks related to the beams while Orbit clock can be locked on one of the Orbit Clocks related to the beams  fine and coarse delay of the signals  definition of the length and period of the orbit pulses  orbit counters  general reset of the board  possibility to publish information sent from the accelerator Developed a Graphic User Interface to control the board via a Control Interface running on a dedicated crate processing unit Finally at CERN… (extras)

36. Federico Alessio08/02/200836 Main functionalities available in the board:  manual or automatic control of the board  selection of the clocks to feed to the TFC system. Bunch clock can be locked either on the Ref Clock or on one of the Bunch Clocks related to the beams while Orbit clock can be locked on one of the Orbit Clocks related to the beams  fine and coarse delay of the signals  definition of the length and period of the orbit pulses  orbit counters  general reset of the board  possibility to publish information sent from the accelerator Developed a Graphic User Interface to control the board via a Control Interface running on a dedicated crate processing unit Finally at CERN… (extras)

37. Federico Alessio08/02/200837 Integrated Remote Control System for Electronic Boards… In depth: the ECS  defines a generic data structure which allows to represent the state of all control and monitoring resources of a board of any type, and which has interfaces to the communication protocol and to the supervisory control and expert system  provides a simple and economical control communication protocol for the remote access mechanism to any board resource type independent of the bus type  provides a simple and economical mechanism which allows monitoring counters and status information by data registers subscription  provide a mapping between the logical or functional view and the hardware view of the boards  provides a set of functions by which the control system can perform control actions and retrieve status information through the functional view of the system, either directed from a user interface or from an expert system

38. Federico Alessio08/02/200838 Communication protocol based on the Distributed Information Management System Based on a client/server paradigm: servers provide services to clients. It can run in the background updating information regularly: in the BPIM the server runs on the CCPC while in the RF2TTC it runs on the crate processing unit The control of the electronics board is done through the industrial distributed SCADA system PVSS II from ETM In depth: DIM & PVSS  Data Point  User Interfaces  Communication Protocol

39. Federico Alessio08/02/200839 In depth: the ECS for the BPIM & RF2TTC The DIM server runs on the CCPC and publishes services and commands The PVSS API manager allows associating DIM commands and DIM services to the dynamic data structure in PVSS. All the board resources are accessed via the PCI bus of the CCPC while the communication protocol over different buses is implemented in the glue card On each CCPC, the DIM server performs directly all the FPGA and the configuration device programming, hardware configuration, data register access, and monitoring of each electronics board. It is independent of the board type and the organization of its resources. The DIM server is linked with library functions to operate over any type of bus The RF2TTC Control System works in the same way, but the DIM server runs on a dedicated crate processing unit and has been adapted for the TFC Control System.

40. Federico Alessio08/02/200840 The control system for the RF2TTC is completely developed and fully working In depth: the ECS for the BPIM & RF2TTC The control system for the BPIM is under development and will be completed and tested with the second prototype of the board