Design concepts for a hierarchical synchronized Data Acquisition network for CBM

This paper focuses on the design and concepts of the hierarchically structured Data Acquisition (DAQ) network for the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt. Due to the limited physical space and the requirement for a multi TB/s DAQ within the system, this experiment requires compact read-out hardware which provides high bandwidth. Additionally different detector types must be supported, which requires some flexibility regarding read-out structures and a common synchronization mechanism. In addition, an important goal is to provide hardware to support an identical interconnection protocol within the complete network to avoid protocol conversions. This led to the design and implementation of new general and unified read-out hardware and firmware.