A read-out buffer prototype for ATLAS high level triggers

Read-out buffers are critical components in the dataflow chain of the ATLAS Trigger/DAQ system. At up to 75 kHz, after each level-1 trigger accept signal, these devices receive and store digitized data from groups of front-end electronic channels. Several read-out buffers are grouped to form a read-out buffer complex that acts as a data server for the high level trigger selection algorithms and for the final data collection system. This paper describes a functional prototype of a read-out buffer based on a custom made PCI mezzanine card that is designed to accept input data at up to 160 MB/s, to store up to 8 MB of data and to distribute data chunks at the desired request rate. We describe the hardware of the card that is based on an Intel 1960 processor and CPLDs. We present the integration of several of these cards in a read-out buffer complex. We measure various performance figures and we discuss to which extent these can fulfil ATLAS needs