Real-time tracking system using precise space and time information of the hit

We report on the design of a real-time tracking system using precise space and time information of the hit. Tracking detectors with about 150 ps time resolution are already available and intense R&D is in progress to improve the performance. We describe the implementation of a real-time tracking algorithm in commercial FPGAs for a prototype tracking system based on 8 planes of silicon sensors used as a case study. We demonstrate that the use of the additional time information in the tracking algorithm allows to suppress noise hits while reducing fake track combinations and improving real-time track reconstruction. The system provides offline-like quality tracks with sub-microsecond latency and it is capable to determine the time of the track with picosecond resolution assuming 10 ps resolution for the hits.