FEREAD front end readout software for the Fermilab PAN-DA data acquisition system

The FEREAD system provides a multitasking framework for controlling the execution of experiment-specific front-end readout processes. It supports initializing the front-end data acquisition hardware, queuing and processing readout activation signals, cleaning up at the end of data acquisition, and transferring configuration parameters and statistical data between a host computer and the readout processes. FEREAD is implemented as part of the PAN-DA software system and is designed to run on any Morola-68 K-based processor board. It has been ported to the FASTBUS general-purpose-master interface board and the VME MVME133A processor board using the pSOS/Microtec environment. An overview of FEREAD is given, and the design and operation of its fine subsystems are described. >