First results from the first level of the H1 fast track trigger

The H1 experiment at the electron-proton collider HERA has built a new fast track trigger to increase the selectivity for exclusive final states and to cope with the higher background rates after the HERA luminosity upgrade. Hits measured in the central jet chamber of H1 are combined to track segments by performing 5times10
¹²
mask comparisons per second using content addressable memories (CAMs). These segments are collected and transmitted via 5 Gbit/s LVDS links to custom made multi-purpose boards and linked to tracks. The latency of the fully pipelined processing chain implemented in programmable logic (FPGAs) is 0.72 mus. During the summer 2004 running period, the FTT level one system delivered first physics triggers from which performance figures were extracted. A single hit efficiency of more than 95% was achieved, and first studies on the p
_T
resolution of tracks were performed using triggered rho meson candidates.