$\mu$TCA DAQ system and parallel reading in CANDLES experiment

Abstract

A new $\mu$TCA DAQ system was introduced in CANDLES experiment with SpaceWire-to-GigabitEthernet (SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet) network for data readout and Flash Analog-to-Digital Converters (FADCs). With SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet, we can construct a flexible DAQ network with multi-path access to FADCs by using off-the-shelf computers. FADCs are equipped 8 event buffers, which act as de-randomizer to detect sequential decays from the background. SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet has high latency (about 100 $\mu$sec) due to long turnaround time, while GigabitEthernet has high throughput. To reduce dead-time, we developed the DAQ system with 4 "crate-parallel" (modules in crates are read in parallel) reading threads. As a result, the readout time is reduced by 4 times: 40 msec down to 10 msec. With improved performance, it is expected to achieve higher background suppression for CANDLES experiment. Moreover, for energy calibration, "event-parallel" reading process (events are read in parallel) is also introduced to reduce measurement time. With 2 "event-parallel" reading processes, the data rate is increased 2 times.