Application of neural microprocessors to high-energy physics experiments

A neural trigger module for high-energy physics experiments has been realized. It employs the analog neural microprocessor ETANN by Intel and the 16-bit digital microprocessor MA16 by Siemens. With suitable I/O interfacing it has operated in the experiment WA92 at CERN, looking for beauty particles produced by a negative pion beam on a copper target, where it is used to accept events for recording on a special data stream to be analyzed with high priority. The response times of both the ETANN and the MA16 parts of the neural trigger, which act independently, are less than 10 microseconds. Results for the ETANN trigger are presented.<
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