Design and Development of MU-STAR: a MUlti-channel Streaming Autonomous Readout digitizer for large channel count readout

The very large density and timing resolution needed in future NP experiments to perform high precision particle identification and position resolution at high rates strongly suggests transition to streaming mode acquisition electronics, where the front end acquisition system operates autonomously. The necessity of recording more than pure timing information would benefit from components that operate as full waveform digitizers. Large channel density makes it desirable to concentrate a large number of channels in an individual device. This creates a massive amount of data that could not be transferred without enormous costs in terms of space and power. To address this problem, Nalu Scientific proposes to design a multi-channel waveform digitizer chip, MU-STAR: a High-Density Autonomous Readout Module with Independent Extraction and Streaming. This Integrated Circuit will service up to 64 channels, each with a dedicated digitizing and processing core, with sampling in excess of 4 GSa/s, up to 2 GHz bandwidth and 10ps or better timing resolution. MU-STAR couples the flexibility and simplicity of streaming implementations with mechanisms that perform early-stage data reduction and zero suppression, as well as self-triggering via elaboration of local triggering information. During phase I, the project will concentrate on evaluation of single channel performance. This will be initially achieved by finalizing and fabricating a single channel device capable of performing streaming readout with the performance targets mentioned above. Based on the tests on the fabricated chip, a full multi-channel chip architecture, together with triggering and data concentration features, will be designed and ready for phase II. The MU-STAR readout integrated circuit will allow the implementation of readout systems that require higher density, higher timing accuracy, and higher data rates than presently available. It will reduce the system cost and complexity per channel, making it particularly attractive for large high-rate NP/HEP experiments. Beyond the physical sciences, MU-STAR will also be highly relevant to developers of medical diagnostic imaging systems such as Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography (TOF-PET), where performance improvements coupled with cost reductions would provide a highly significant direct public benefit.