Parallel Distribution of Asynchronous Optical Signals

An eleven channel digital asynchronous transceiver (DAT) employing parallel optical link technology has been developed for trigger signal distribution across the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). Combinatorial logic functions are implemented in Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGAs, providing a versatile solution adaptable for use in future atmospheric Cerenkov detectors and other high-energy astroparticle experiments. The device is dead-time free and introduces a minimal skew of 1.6 ns between channels. The jitter on each DAT channel is less than 0.8 ns 95% of the time, allowing communication between telescopes and a central trigger system separated by hundreds of meters, without limiting array performance.
14 pages, 5 figures