A Low-Cost, Low-Power Media Converter Solution for Next-Generation Detector Readout Systems

Abstract

High Energy Physics (HEP) data acquisition systems are often built from high-end FPGAs. As such systems scale in the HL-LHC era, severe under-utilization of FPGA transceivers can occur because front-end links prioritize radiation hardness and power consumption over raw data bandwidth. This work evaluates recently introduced low-power, low-cost FPGA devices as an alternative building block for future readout architectures. This study presents the implementation of a readout back-End on FPGA where the front-end protocol is based on the Low-Power GigaBit Transceiver (lpGBT) and the readout protocol is based on 10 Gigabit Ethernet, using the LHCb Run 4 RICH detector as a practical case study.