A Programmable Time Alignment Scheme for Detector Signals from the Upgraded muon Spectrometer at the ATLAS Experiment

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible, resource-efficient programmable time alignment scheme implemented in an ASIC for the ATLAS muon spectrometer, enabling precise compensation of timing offsets across numerous detector channels.

Contribution

A novel, fully synthesizable programmable time alignment scheme with phase-shifting and majority logic for detector signals in high-energy physics experiments.

Findings

Supports 104 input channels with 3 ns step delay

Provides a full 25 ns delay range per channel

Resource-efficient and adaptable to similar phase-shifting applications

Abstract

We present a programmable time alignment scheme used in an ASIC for the ATLAS forward muon trigger development. The scheme utilizes regenerated clocks with programmable phases to compensate for the timing offsets introduced by different detector trace lengths. Each ASIC used in the design has 104 input channels with delay compensation circuitry providing steps of ~ 3 ns and a full range of 25 ns for each channel. Detailed implementation of the scheme including majority logic to suppress single-event effects is presented. The scheme is flexible and fully synthesizable. The approach is adaptable to other applications with similar phase shifting requirements. In addition, the design is resource efficient and is suitable for cost-effective digital implementation with a large number of channels.