SciFi Run Types & Recipes

Introduction

For the operation of the SciFi detector, several types of calibration runs are carried out, through which a number of fundamental parameters (FEE thresholds and time phases, SiPM bias, etc.) are determined and routinely updated. In order to try and categorize systematically the type of calibration runs (scans) that are foreseen for the SciFi operation, we introduce the concept of SciFi Run Type. This concept is used internally in the SciFi project and it is not to be confused with what in the LHCb ECS are called Activities (and internally in the LHCb Online software run types).

SciFi Run Types are in use in several applications, among the others:

• in the SciFi Online Database;
• in the DAQFEE FSM Recipes;
• in SciFi-specific run information section of the LHCb ECS (accessible through the so-called Run-Info FMS node);
• in the analysis of Scan runs.

Run Types

The list of SciFi Run-Types (see also Nikhef Redmine SciFi Control Wiki)) is the following:

• SciFi Run Types
  • BEAM_TI_SCAN;
  • CHARGE_TH_SCAN;
  • LIS_TH_SCAN;
  • VTTXBIAS_SCAN;
  • FPGA_PRBS_BER_TI_SCAN;
  • PACIFIC_BER_TI_SCAN;
  • PHYSICS.

Each type of run in the list above will require different SciFi operational parameters.

SciFi-Specific RunInfo

SciFi-specific variables have been created in the RunInfo node of the SFECS for the consumption of the DAQFEE system. The information is stored in the SfRunInfo datapoint type and it contains three DPE's:

• SF_SfRunInfo.SFRunType : SciFi Run Type;
• SF_SfRunInfo.FERecipe : DAQFEE Recipe Name;
• SF_SfRunInfo.SFScanConfig : DAQFEE Scan Name.

This information is filled by the SFECS Operator through a panel with pop-down menu's.

SciFi Run-Type Selection

When standalone SciFi runs are taken with SFECS, while the rest of the ECS software follows the usual procedure to determine the system-specific recipes from the Activity string, the DAQFEE control software follows a custom procedure based on the SciFi-Specific RunInfo. The SciFi operator is requested to fill in the SciFi-Specific RunInfo through a pop-down menu in the SFECS FSM top panel.

At run time, the SFECS FSM automatically performs the following actions:

1. check if the SFScanName input string matches an existing scan name (scan names are created by the Scan Creator, and check that the SciFi Run Type associated to the selected scan matches the SFRunType selected in the panel. If either check fails, a pop-up error message appears and no further actions are taken;
2. check that the DAQFEE-recipe input string matches an existing recipe (the list of all DAQFEE recipes is in the SciFiOnlineDataBases#Recipe_Creation_Table[Recipe Creation Table]] in the SciFi Online DB), and check the SciFi Run Type associated to the selected recipe matches the SFRunType selected in the panel. If either check fails, a pop-up error message appears and no further actions are taken;
3. if the above checks are passed, set the SF_SfRunInfo.SFRunType, SF_SfRunInfo.SFScanConfig and SF_SfRunInfo.FERecipe DPE values from the user-input fields in the panel and trigger a RESET of the FE nodes.

Calibration Run Table Update

By calibration run (a.k.a. scan) we mean a run which is not of type PHYSICS, i.e. SF_SfRunInfo.SFRunType = { BEAM_TI_SCAN, CHARGE_TH_SCAN, LIS_TH_SCAN, VTTXBIAS_SCAN, FPGA_PRBS_BER_TI_SCAN,  PACIFIC_BER_TI_SCAN }. These calibration runs are vital to maintain optimal values for several parameters of the SciFi FE Electronics. Given their importance, every time that a standalone run of this type is started by the SF ECS Operator, a set of real-time information concerning the run is automatically saved into a dedicated Calibration-Run Table in the SciFi Online DB: Time Stamp, SciFi Run Type, DAQFEE Recipe Name, SiPM Over-Voltage, SiPM Temperature.

By automatically we mean that it is the SFECS FSM that performs the writing into the Calibration-Run Table.

Specifications for Karol/Ton:

1. the writing should be done when Time Stamp, SciFi Run Type, DAQFEE Recipe Name, SiPM Over-Voltage, SiPM Temperature are actually settled down (when run is ACTIVE?)
2. SciFi Run Type and DAQFEE Recipe Name should be taken from the SciFi-Specific RunInfo;
3. SiPM Over-Voltage and SiPM Temperature should be taken from one-valued data points. Preema should have created them already, in any case I strongly recommend that you check that the last update of these data points is not too long ago (?);
4. the DB writing should be non-blocking, i.e. FSM actions and state changes should continue while the DB writing happens in the background;
5. print a meaningful log message that the DB entry creation succeeded.