100-Gbit/s UDP Data Acquisition on Linux Using AF_XDP: The TRISTAN Detector

A growing number of detectors produce data rates of more than 100 Gb/s, which often necessitate software-defined data processing to operate. Because of its simplicity, the user datagram protocol (UDP) offers a straightforward method for integrating such detectors with online computing resources that host the data processing software. Nevertheless, conventional technologies—such as POSIX sockets—are either ineffective or difficult to apply on detector boards based on field-programmable gateway arrays (FPGAs). The new Linux AF_XDP sockets (XSK) are a novel method that uses zero-copy methods to target high data speeds. In this article, we present “DQDK,” a novel data acquisition (DAQ) framework based on AF_XDP and UDP for readout systems with more than 100 Gb/s. We evaluate our framework for the TRItium sterile antineutrino (TRISTAN) detector whose rates are expected to reach 200 Gb/s. We describe our experience developing a TRISTAN detector readout system using AF_XDP.