TPOL DAQ overview for experts

This page contains an overview over the TPOL DAQ system

Hardware

The TPOL online DAQ system consists of three sub-systems:

A PC named tpol02.desy.de located in room 914
The calorimeter readout hardware, located in a VME crate and a NIM crate in room 914. The VME crate is controlled by a RIO2 processor board, named lytpol04.desy.de. There is an alias pointing to the same IP-address tpol01.desy.de.
The silicon readout hardware, located in a VME crate and a NIM crate in the HERA tunnel. The VME crate is controlled by a RIO2 processor board, named lytpol02.desy.de.

DAQ structure

The TPOL online software consists of several programs, distributed over the three sub-systems. The programs are connected by TCP/IP or UDP sockets. Through these sockets messages are exchanged in ASCII format. A message consists of a name and some arguments, seperated by whitespace from the message name. Individual messages are seperated by a newline character

Two processes are acting as a server, so that other processes can connect to. The relevant information about the port number and the machine is stored in a file tpol.hosts. The current settings are

Process machine port purpose
statusdb tpol02.desy.de 4443 (TDC/IP) online-database, run control, online clients
statusdb tpol02.desy.de 4445 (UDP) online monitoring
synchronize lytpol04.desy.de 4444 (TCP/IP) core DAQ system

Process	machine	port	purpose
statusdb	tpol02.desy.de	4443 (TDC/IP)	online-database, run control, online clients
statusdb	tpol02.desy.de	4445 (UDP)	online monitoring
synchronize	lytpol04.desy.de	4444 (TCP/IP)	core DAQ system

The structrure of the DAQ (not including the silicon readout) is summarized in the picture below

Programs which connect to one of the servers first send an Ident message. Based on this identification the connection is either established or refused. This identification in conjunction with the machine and the local port number is used to assign a uniqe Email-like address to each client-process. Using the To message it is possible to send a message from one client to another client. It will receive a From message containing the address of the origin of the message. Furthermore a selection is made on the remote commands which are accepted, depending on the origin of the message.

There are two interactive programs for connecting to the servers and typing in raw messages. To connect to statusdb use the program dbmon. To connnect to synchronize use the super program. NOte that it can be very dangerous to use those programs, since it is not possible to correct typos.

Example for using dbmon

pol2000@tpol02:~/daq > linux/dbmon
11.03.2002 21:06:06 local MsgIdent SUCCESS connected to Statusdb@tpol02.desy.de:4443
Help
 --- Help --- from Statusdb@tpol02.desy.de:4443
Exit : terminate program
From NAME MESSAGE : MESSAGE is from NAME
From NAME MESSAGE : MESSAGE is from NAME
Help : describe commands
History FIELD T S: request FIELD valid at T/S
Ident NAME PASSWD : identify as NAME
Kill NAME : close conection to NAME
List : list all connected clients
Ping : send Pong if alive
ShowDB : show statistics
Status [STATUS] : update/request run status
To NAME MESSAGE : forward MESSAGE to NAME
Update M : M=0 acknowledge M=1 status update

Note that all messages start with a capital letter. The Help message queries a list of all command that the client is allowed to send. The interactive programs dbmon and super have access to all commands. List --- List --- from Statusdb@tpol02.desy.de:4443 Sync@lytpol04.desy.de:4444 HERMESclient@lxher1.desy.de:3711 \ NETMEXserver@tpol02.desy.de:2306 Super@tpol02.desy.de:2358 \ Super@pctpol01.desy.de:1434 ZEUSclient@zenith206.desy.de:1233 The List command gives a list of all clients currently connected to the server. The dbmon process itself is Super@pctpol01.desy.de:1434 exit type exit with lower-case letters to leave the program. If You type Exit with a capital E, the server itself will terminate!

Essential DAQ programs

All DAQ programs and shell scripts can be found in the directories tpol02.desy.de:/home/pol2000/daq/linux/ lytpol02.desy.de:/home/pol2000/daq/lynxos/ lytpol04.desy.de:/home/pol2000/daq/lynxos/ To start the core DAQ there is a script startdaq, which starts all relevant programs. However, prior to starting the core DAQ it is necessary to start the online data-base, using the script startdb. Please check the detailed documentation how to restart the DAQ before running these scripts.

The following programs are needed in order to measure polarisation (also see the TPOL DAQ process window of the TpolMonitor program (on tpol02).

program running on Ident connected to purpose
statusdb tpol02 Statusdb synchronize online data-base, clients, monitoring, run control
synchronize lytpol04 Sync connect core DAQ processes
pilot lytpol04 Pilot synchronize automatic actions of the TPOL DAQ
slowdev lytpol04 Slowdev synchronize control and monitor slow devices
scaler lytpol04 Scaler synchronize monitor/measure trigger rates
connectmfcc lytpol04 Mfcc synchronize start/stop MFCC, copy calorimeter histograms
analysis lytpol04 Analysis synchronize online analysis
connecthera tpol02 Netmexcli synchronize retreive HERA information from NETMEX
cleanup tpol02 Cleanup synchronize run cleanup scripts (e.g. at end-of-run)

program	running on	Ident	connected to	purpose
statusdb	tpol02	Statusdb	synchronize	online data-base, clients, monitoring, run control
synchronize	lytpol04	Sync		connect core DAQ processes
pilot	lytpol04	Pilot	synchronize	automatic actions of the TPOL DAQ
slowdev	lytpol04	Slowdev	synchronize	control and monitor slow devices
scaler	lytpol04	Scaler	synchronize	monitor/measure trigger rates
connectmfcc	lytpol04	Mfcc	synchronize	start/stop MFCC, copy calorimeter histograms
analysis	lytpol04	Analysis	synchronize	online analysis
connecthera	tpol02	Netmexcli	synchronize	retreive HERA information from NETMEX
cleanup	tpol02	Cleanup	synchronize	run cleanup scripts (e.g. at end-of-run)

David South

Last modified: Mon Nov 7 14:56:51 CET 2005