A fast processor for muon triggering using resistive plate chambers

The authors report on the realization of a fast processor for muon triggering that is used in the WA92 experiment at CERN. The trigger of the experiment is designed to identify secondary vertices or large transverse momentum tracks or leptons. The identification of muon tracks is done on two planes of resistive plate chambers (RPCs) of 2 m*6 m, placed behind an iron absorber. The RPC is a new type of inexpensive gaseous detector suitable for covering large areas. It detects particles that cross a gas mixture, giving on a stripline an induced signal of approximately 100 pC and approximately 2-ns risetime. The muon trigger is implemented by a VME hardware processor that has a processing time of approximately 90 ns.<>