Real-time FPGA-based simulator for the Tile Calorimeter readout system in the ATLAS experiment

Abstract

This work proposes a real-time simulator for the readout system of the Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) in the ATLAS experiment, utilizing Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This simulator models the TileCal readout chain, including the dynamic sensor and signal conditioning circuits, generating physics data at a rate of 40 MHz, synchronized with the LHC collision rate. The choice of FPGAs is driven by the need for parallel processing and high performance. The implemented simulator occupies only 3% of the FPGA resources, offering real-time processing and allowing for dynamic adjustments, despite the challenges of hardware design and resource optimization.