Flexible 64 channel Fastbus ADC with programmable zero suppression and bias correction

A modular Fastbus ADC (analog-to-digital converter) system for data acquisition in high-energy and nuclear physics experiments with a high number of channels is described. One ADC module occupies two Fastbus slots and provides 64 channels. Each module consists of an analog preprocessing part, the ADC section, and the Fastbus slave interface logic. Each channel can individually be stuffed with TVCs (time-to-voltage converters), CVCs (charge-to-voltage converters), or PVCs (pulse height-to-voltage converters). All channels are multiplexed to a single ADC unit. ADCs with a conversion time of less than 1 mu s and a data width of up to 16 b can be used (2.7 mu s/12 b currently). The differential nonlinearity can be eliminated by a statistical correction. The slave interface logic of the ADC module supports most of the standard Fastbus operations. The Fastbus ADC module is currently running as a prototype. All functions have been tested successfully.<
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