Low-Level Test of the New Read-Out-Driver (ROD) Module and Back-of-Crate (BOC) Module for ATLAS IBL Data Acquisition System Upgrade

During first long shutdown of The Large Hadron Collider, most of experiment infrastructures at CERN will be upgraded for preparation to operate at higher energy thus can open new possibilities to discover the unknown in particle physics. ATLAS, which is the biggest particle detector at CERN, will also be upgraded by constructing new pixel sensor layer. This new pixel sensor layer is called ATLAS Insertable B-Layer (IBL). IBL will be installed between the existing pixel sensor and new, smaller radius beam pipe. The installation of IBL will introduce new level of radiation and pixel occupancy. Therefore, it requires development of new technologies to supports the ATLAS IBL upgrade and also improve the physics performance of the existing pixel sensor. One of the important key technologies that must be upgraded is data acquisition system. The development of new front-end ASIC, the FE-I4, to answer the challenge in data acquisition system will require new off-detector electronics. The new off-detector electronics was implemented by using two VME-based boards, the Back-of-Crate (BOC) modules which handles optical input-output functionality and the Read-Out-Driver (ROD) modules which handles data processing. By the beginning of 2014 summer, the new ROD and BOC modules will mark new milestone in production process. Both of them will undergo series of stress tests to make sure its functionality and reliability. Therefore, the systematic and comprehensive low-level tests method must be developed to test the ROD, BOC, and anything in between in an efficient and effective way. By analyzing the result of this low-level tests, improvement and revision to ROD and BOC modules both in hardware level and in firmware level can be made. Moreover, the development of current test method promises the possibilities for the future test system integration by which the end-user can test the ROD and BOC functionality without any hassle.