System on chip architecture for AugerPrime surface detector electronics upgrade of the pierre auger observatory
Abstract
The Pierre Auger Observatory, located near the town of Malargüe, Argentina, is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. It has for objectives to probe the origin and characteristics of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The results obtained by the Pierre Auger Collaboration provide important information on key aspects of the UHECR field, leading to new questions and open challenges which call for an upgrade of the Observatory. In the upgrade program, called AugerPrime, the 1660 surface detector stations will be improved in particular by implementing new electronics with higher performance. The new electronics aims to increase the number of analog channels and their dynamic range, to get a higher sampling rate and better timing accuracy. It is designed with a new generation of component, called SOC for System On Chip. A Linux system must be integrated for higher access development. First prototypes of the new electronics have been built and deployed at the Pierre Auger Observatory.