A generic firmware core to drive the Front-End GBT-SCAs for the LHCb ugprade

The LHCb experiment has proposed an upgrade towards a full 40 MHz readout system in order to run between five and ten times its initial design luminosity. The entire Front-End electronics will be upgraded in order to cope with higher sub-detector occupancy, higher data rate and to work in a complete trigger-less fashion. In this paper, we describe a novel way to transmit slow control information to the Front-End electronics, by profiting from bidirectional optical connections and the GBT and GBT-SCA chipset capabilities. The implementation and preliminary validation tests are shown as well.