NIOS II Soft-Core Processor and Ethernet Controller Solution for RPC-DAQ in INO ICAL
Abstract
This paper introduces a high-performance Soft-Core Processor based data acquisition system designed for handling Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs). The DAQ consist of FPGA-based hardware equipped with Soft-Core Processor and embedded hardwired Ethernet controllers named RPC-DAQ, offering a versatile and fast network-enabled data acquisition solution. A soft processor, NIOS, is instantiated within an Intel Cyclone IV FPGA, overseeing control, communication, and data transfer with remote processing units. These integrated RPC-DAQ units, in substantial numbers, connect to a limited set of high-end processing units via LAN switches. This paper provides a detailed account of the software implementation scheme for the NIOS processor in the RPC-DAQ system. A remarkable 28,800 RPC-DAQ units will be deployed in proximity to the RPCs, serving the proposed INO-ICAL experiment in Theni-Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The network-enabled RPC-DAQ units controlled by the soft processor offloads FPGA tasks including event data acquisition, periodic health monitoring of RPCs, command interfaces, high voltage control, and data transfer to back-end data concentrators. Communication and data transfer are executed efficiently via TCP and UDP protocols over a 100 Mbps Ethernet interface. This system provides innovative solutions to improve data acquisition and control in large-scale scientific experiments.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2501.00686,
title = {NIOS II Soft-Core Processor and Ethernet Controller Solution for RPC-DAQ in INO ICAL},
author = {Yuvaraj Elangovan and Mandar Saraf and B. Satyanarayana and S. S. Upadhya and Nagaraj Panyam and Ravindra Shinde and Gobinda Majumder and D. Sil and Pathaleswar and S. Thoi Thoi and K. C. Ravindran},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.00686},
year = {2025}
}