Upgrade of the Protection System for the Superconducting Elements of the LHC During LS1

During the first long shutdown (LS1) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the protection system for the superconducting elements of the LHC will substantially be upgraded with the principal objectives to extend its diagnostic capabilities and to enhance the system immunity to ionizing radiation. All proposed measures will improve the overall system dependability as well. The supervision of the quench heater circuits of the LHC main dipoles will be enhanced by adding additional measurement channels for the discharge current and increasing the sampling frequency and resolution of the related data acquisition systems. By these measures it will be possible to identify potential fault states of the quench heater circuits, which may affect the integrity of the concerned magnets. At this occasion all main dipole protection systems will be submitted to general overhaul after four years of successful operation. Within the radiation to electronics project, the upgrade of the protection systems will be concluded by installing the latest versions of radiation tolerant quench detection electronics. In addition some equipment will be relocated to shielded areas.