Firmware Upgrade of the CMS Phase-1 Pixel Front-End Controller: Impact on Pixel Operation and DAQ

The Pixel Front-End Controller of the CMS Phase-1 Pixel detector is responsible for programming the front-end chips and distributing the trigger, clock and fast signals to the detector modules. An upgrade of the Pixel FEC firmware was undertaken and was successfully integrated into the online software. It was commissioned and deployed for the operation in CMS at the beginning of 2018. The new firmware reduces the programming time of front-end chips dramatically and also helps towards a more complete and faster recovery of the detector modules affected by single event upset during data-taking with proton proton collisions. The details of the implementation, along with the impact on the Pixel detector operation and DAQ will be discussed.