A distributed data acquisition system for signal digitizers with on-line analysis capabilities

In this article we present a distributed Data Acquisition (DAQ) system developed for the C-BORD project [1], [2]. Many examples of DAQ systems are monolithic processes that run on a computer attached to the DAQ hardware. In this new DAQ, a different process is assigned to each task of the system (e.g. data acquisition, pre-processing, analysis, high-voltage management...). The communication between the processes is obtained through dedicated communication sockets. An important advantage of this approach is the possibility to distribute the system over several computers connected in a network, in order to distribute the computational load. The distributed nature of the system allows also the implementation of on-line data analysis processes that can be computationally intensive. Moreover the system is very versatile, as the different tasks can be dynamically activated or disabled, and robust, since a failure of one of the processes does not jeopardize the whole system. The system has been used in the project to acquire the data generated by fast signal digitizers. Excellent results were obtained, both in terms of performance (e.g. maximum acquisition rates) and stability. The project entitled “effective Container inspection at BORDer control points” (C-BORD) is funded by the European H2020 program. Its aim is to develop a comprehensive set of technologies for the generalized Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) of containers and large-volume freight at the EU border.