Versatile prototyping platform for Data Processing Boards for CBM experiment

Abstract

The CBM experiment is one of the experiments prepared at the FAIR Facility in Darmstadt. The Data Processing Boards (DPB) are an important component of the CBM readout chain. Before the final, production versions of DPB may be designed, it is important to create a prototyping platform, to test and select appropriate hardware and firmware solutions. The Kintex based AMC FMC Carrier (AFCK) board is a versatile and open solution fulfilling those requirements, offering configurable high-speed (up to 10 Gbps) connectivity. The paper describes the AFCK hardware, the firmware architecture, and the IP cores developed for different DPB prototyping tasks. Due to its versatility and openness the AFCK may be reused in other experiments.