Low latency protocol for transmission of measurement data from FPGA to Linux computer via 10 Gbps Ethernet link

This paper presents FADE-10G – an integrated solution for modern multichannel measurement systems, aimed on low latency, reliable transmission of measurement data from FPGA based front-end electronic boards (FEBs) to computer based node in the Data Acquisition System (DAQ), using standard Ethernet 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps link. Additionally to transmission of data, the system allows to reliably send simple control commands from DAQ to FEB and receive responses. The aim of the work is to provide possibly simple base solution which can be adapted by the end user to his or her particular needs. Therefore emphasis is put on minimal consumption of FPGA resources in FEB and minimal CPU load in the DAQ computer. The open source implementation of the FPGA IP core and Linux kernel driver under permissive license facilitates modifications and reuse of the solution. The system has been successfully tested in real hardware, both with 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps links.