Integrating the GBT into standard networks

A data acquisition device that interfaces the custom radiation-hard front end fibre links to industry standard Ethernet or InfiniBand networks is proposed. The custom links aggregate several slow serial links carrying front end readout, configuration, calibration and detector monitoring data. The proposed device routes these slow links individually between Front end electronics and software processes on the network. It also distributes the Timing, Trigger and Control signals, including the LHC Bunch Crossing clock, to the front ends. Separating the data transmission from data processing, data processing in software instead of custom hardware becomes possible.