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Abstract: The TOTEM experiment, small in size compared to the others at the LHC, is dedicated to the measurement of the total proton–proton cross-sections with a luminosity-independent method and to the study of elastic and diffractive scattering at the LHC. To achieve optimum forward coverage for charged particles emitted by the pp collisions in the IP5 interaction point, two tracking telescopes, T1 and T2, will be installed on each side in the pseudo-rapidity region between 3.1 and 6.5, and Roman Pot stations will be placed at distances of 147 and 220m from IP5. The telescope closest to the interaction point (T1, centred at z=9m) consists of Cathode Strip Chambers (CSC), while the second one (T2, centred at 13.5m), makes use of Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM). The proton detectors in the Roman Pots are silicon devices designed by TOTEM with the specific objective of reducing down to a few tens of microns the insensitive area at the edge. High efficiency as close as possible to the physical detector boundary is an essential feature. It maximizes the experimental acceptance for protons scattered elastically or interactively at polar angles down to a few micro-radians at IP5. To measure protons at the lowest possible emission angles, special beam optics have been conceived to optimize proton detection in terms of acceptance and resolution. The read-out of all TOTEM subsystems is based on the custom-developed digital VFAT chip with trigger capability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]