INO-ICAL trigger system: A tale of its evolution

The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) collaboration is planning to build a 50 kton magnetized Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector to study atmospheric neutrinos and to make precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters. The detector will mostly look for muon neutrino induced charged current interactions using magnetized iron as the target mass and a total of 28,800 Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) as sensitive detector elements. The architecture of the trigger scheme for the ICAL detector has been developed and is validated by estimating the associated chance coincidence rates and determining the trigger efficiency of the scheme for the events of interest. The hardware implementation of the trigger scheme is initiated by designing an FPGA-based trigger module and evaluating its performance in the prototype detector. The overall layout for the implementation of the proposed trigger scheme for the ICAL detector has been devised and the trigger latency is estimated. A study is carried out to ascertain the reliability of LVDS standard in signal transmission over long distance. The designs of the trigger boards, proposed to constitute the ICAL trigger system, are contemplated and the design components have been selected.
This talk will illustrate the evolution of the ICAL trigger system from the conceptual stage up to the board-level design.