Electronics

The CTA CIEMAT group is responsible for the design of the electronics of the camera trigger system for the large size telescope.

In particular, the Electronic Technology Department of CIEMAT is developing the distribution system of the trigger signal to the 265 front-end boards. This system is based on 265 independent modules that distribute the trigger and clock signal asynchronously, guaranteeing that all modules received the signal simultaneously within one nanosecond.

The distribution board hardware design is ready for production, while the firmware is in an advanced stage that includes all the functionality required for the first large size telescope. Additionally, the medium size telescope team is in the process of evaluation of the system to be used in that telescope.  For a first evaluation of the system 50 of these modules have been produced, and 265 more will be produced for the first prototype of the camera for the large size telescope.

Beyond that, our group develops an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that implements the logic to determine whether the camera has to be read based on the analog signal provided by the camera.  Each camera has 265 of these ASICs, which have been approved for installation in the first camera of the large size telescope. These ASICs have already been produced, tested and have been delivered for integration into electronic boards for the camera of the first large size telescope. As for the signal distribution system, these ASICs are being evaluated for their use in the medium size telescopes.