Level 2 Status and Outlook

Ali Hanks

Run 7 DAQ Fest

Oct. 18, 2006

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 2

Outline

• Review:– Making configurations

– Monitoring level 2 filtering

• Problems to solve:– Remaining bugs

– Lvl2 - buffer box stream configs made seperately

– No reliable record of configuration kept

– Lvl2 stats not automatically recorded

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 3

Creating/Editing lvl2 Configurations

• Lvl2 version attached to lvl1 version– Downloaded to disk with GL1

configuration– EvBServer uses Lvl2Control

lib to read and send to ATPs

• Can use to add existing lvl2 to new lvl1 version or modify lvl2

• There is a special option to add new output streams

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 4

Configuring Bits and Algorithms

• Available bits are determined by the lvl1 version selected

• All available algorithms can be enabled or disabled for each enabled bit

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 5

Level 2 Monitoring

• Lvl2Mon: originally written by GSU

• Monitors Lvl1 and Lvl2 trigger decisions

• Powerfull diagnostic tool: mostly used by experts during last run

• May be useful as part of online monitoring

• Was used for writing lvl2 stats to an ascii file

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 6

Remaining Issues for Lvl2

• A few known bugs to be fixed– If forced accept 0 it overrides disabled mode for bits

– Occasionally new configurations would not get written properly to db - not clear why

– Seems too easy to make a mistake and mess up the db so it can’t be fixed without direct intervention

• Streams used for filtering must agree in lvl2 and buffer box configurations– Currently this requires expert intervention, not ideal

– Lots of instances when lvl2 was turned off but the buffer boxes were still writing scalars to the lvl2 streams

– Possible solution is a buffer box gui connected to lvl2 config gui

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 7

Remaining Issues (cont’d)

• Under certain conditions, new lvl1 configurations can be missing a lvl2 configuration - havoc ensues– Need tighter integration of two configurations

• Currently a pointer to the Lvl2Config db entry is entered in the runcontrol db– Actual configuration should be entered to guard against erroneous db

changes after the fact

• Lvl2 statistics are recorded only as ASCII files (by Lvl2Monitor), as an expert (or DO) action– Need to automate this if we want a reliable db-based record

10/18/06 DAQ Fest - Lvl2 8

Lvl2 Rates

• Algorithm run time not a problem for pp but could be for Au-Au

– Multithreading works well, could it be further optimized?

– More ATPs are available

– Some algorithms may have room for improvement in efficiency