Configuring the LHCb Readout System using a Database

The LHCb readout system is composed of hundreds of electronic boards, an event-building network based on Gigabit Ethernet switches and an online processing farm. The Experiment Control System (ECS) configures the system from an online configuration database. This database must contain device parameters, the hierarchical structure and the connectivity information of the system. In addition the switches in the event-building network require routing tables that have to be generated according to the connectivity while ensuring optimal load balancing. We apply the Entity Relationship model to represent the connectivity of the system. PL/SQL code dynamically builds the routing tables using the information contained in the database.