Reported by C. Moine & C. Parkman, 18 December, 2002 Present
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- 1Summary of the last meeting
- A brief review was made of new equipment ordered since the last EPTAB meeting
- Refer to L.Musa and J.Buytaert’s presentation [2].
- It was agreed to return to this issue at the next EPTAB.
- The next meeting of EPTAB was scheduled for 27 February, 2003 at 10:00 in 4-R-017.
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Electronics Pool Technical Advisory Board Report on the Second Meeting, 12 December, 2002 Reported by C.Moine & C.Parkman, 18 December, 2002Present:J.Buytaert EP-ED (LHCb), A.Ceccucci (EP-N48, Fixed Target), M.Hansen (EP-CME, CMS), C.Moine (EP-ESS, Electronics Pool Operations), L.Musa (EP-ED, ALICE), C.Parkman (EP-ESS, Chairman), G.Schluer (EP-ATE, ATLAS)1Summary of the last meetingThe summary was approved for publication without change.2Electronics Pool NewsRefer to C.Parkman’s presentation [1].A project associate (Gueorgui Antchev) has joined ESS Group and will initially be working on Pool-related matters. This work will include a review of test procedures and the establishment of a series of “buyer’s guides” summarising the characteristics of various types of equipment to help users choose equipment, and to investigate the coherency of the Pool stock.Steps have been taken to reduce the Pool’s stock with a first batch of obsolete, non-working equipment having been sent to the CERN recuperation service. Efforts are now being directed to establishing a list of surplus, but functional equipment which, following approval by EPTAB, will be announced for sale to the community.A discussion has been held with EP management on how to treat experiments who are temporarily suspended and who do not wish to dismantle equipment for return to the Pool, only to remount it at a later date. This situation is expected to arise frequently during the 2005 accelerator shut-down. A formula has been provisionally agreed which allows the Pool to recuperate its overheads.A plan for the refurbishment of the Electronics Pool’s premises is under discussion, including the addition of a “shop window” to allow users to choose and inspect equipment without needing to circulate in the Pool’s stock room.Following the last EPTAB meeting, and a subsequent meeting of the Electronics Advisory Board (EAB), an attempt was made to persuade the owners of expensive measurement equipment to make it known in the Electronics Pool Equipment Catalogue which would then be a single source of information for equipment of all origins. The principle was for the equipment to remain in the ownership of the respective group, and any loan arrangements to be made person to person. The response to this attempt was negligible (one item). In addition, F.Formenti raised issues concerned with possible damage to equipment on loan, etc. However, this proposal has received the support of D.Schlatter and in discussion EPTAB renewed its support for the principle. C.Parkman will ask D.Schlatter to make a further request for information.The 5% surcharge system proposed for the global support of electronics at CERN has been terminated by D.Schlatter following discussions in LECC and EAB. Its application posed problems of resources and in any case, the uptake had been negligible and no particular enthusiasm was evident from contacts with the four LHC experiments.A first, electronic “CERN Electronics Pool Newsletter” has been published in an attempt to disseminate information to the user community on equipment disposal, new items purchased and various organisational issues. It is intended to publish a Newsletter at least three times annually.The Electronics Pool monthly income from rental fees has shown a small but consistent decline in the second half of 2002 at levels of from 4-12% below those of 2001. This fits with the predictions made based on the restrictions in the scientific programme and CERN economies in general. In absolute terms, the disposable income in 2001 was 2.18MCHF and is predicted to be 1.76MCHF in 2002.Statistical analysis of the Electronic Pool’s return on investment shows that, almost without exception, no item has been fully amortised over its lifetime, with a number of types having very little return.The present rental scheme was compared to a hypothetical, economically viable scheme having guaranteed amortisation of the initial investment. It is clear that a fully funded scheme based only on rental fees would imply a major increase in their level from the present flat ~18% to 25% or more, depending on the anticipated “occupancy” (time rented/total time) and the lifetime of the item.In a discussion on the level of rental fees it was agreed that no increase could be envisaged particularly in the current economic climate, and that other means of assuring the economic health of the Pool should be sought. These could take the form of direct or indirect subsidies from the CERN, but should include a better selection of equipment to ensure its general utility to the community and a well-defined technical policy for the Pool.A brief review was made of new equipment ordered since the last EPTAB meeting:
3Application Orientated Sets of EquipmentRefer to L.Musa and J.Buytaert’s presentation [2].Rather than making detailed lists of sets of equipment based on the current Electronics Pool stock, the approach was taken to examine typical applications in detail in order to define the generic functionality.Specifically, a functional view was taken of typical detector readout electronics to determine which functions should or could be made available from the Pool. Initially, the specific needs of ALICE and LHCb were taken as examples.Currently, the Electronics Pool answers the need for standard modules and, to some extent computer interfaces. However, owing to the diversity of implementation, the detector specific electronics (amplifiers, pulse shapers, etc.) are not included.In the context of the LHC experiments, this detector specific area has been covered by a number of specific circuits (ASICS), the use of some of which could be generalised. It was proposed to at least establish a list of such circuits with their outline specifications and the name of a contact person. Eventually, and without a major effort, a number of these circuits could be generalised and implemented in a modular electronics format for non-specific use. If included in the Pool, this would enable it to respond to more of the needs of a typical detector read-out chain.L.Musa and J.Buytaert proposed to carry out a survey of detector functions and their electronics requirements during development and commissioning, initially in ALICE and LHCb, in order to identify missing functionality in the Electronics Pool. G.Schuler and M.Hansen expressed reservations on their ability to extract such information from ATLAS and CMS, but would make efforts to identify someone who would have this type of information.It was agreed to return to this issue at the next EPTAB.4Any Other BusinessC.Moine reported that an offer had been received from CAEN to buy-back LeCroy NIM modules from the Electronics Pool in return for the purchase of new, CAEN NIM modules. CAEN agreed in principle to consider revising the offer so as to supply NIM functions in VME modules, rather than new NIM modules. It was proposed to discuss this offer at the next EPTAB meeting in the light of the discussions on “coherent sets”.The next meeting of EPTAB was scheduled for 27 February, 2003 at 10:00 in 4-R-017.References
http://doc.cern.ch/AGE/current/askArchive.php?a021733/a021733s1t0/transparencies/Parkman.pdf
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