The port card for the silicon vertex detector upgrade of the Collider Detector at Fermilab

The collider detector at Fermilab is approaching the completion of the silicon vertex detector upgrade for Run II. The port card is a Beryllia multichip module developed to control, read out, and regulate power for the silicon strip readout chips. It has two radiation hard application-specific integrated circuits, parallel fiber-optic transmitters, and voltage regulators. It resides 14 cm from the accelerator beam inside the tracking volume. The function and location of the port card impose severe constraints on its design. This paper presents the port card and describes the adopted solutions to address the main design issues, as well as the result of many characterization tests.