A module of digitally controlled delay lines for the T0 detector of the ALICE experiment

The DCDL module of digitally controlled delay lines has been developed and tested. This module is part of the electronic system of the T0 start trigger detector and is used to produce a precise time stamp for the time-of-flight system of particle identification and to generate a trigger of the zero level for the other detector subsystems of the ALICE system at the large hadron collider (LHC) built at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). A four-channel module of software-controlled delay lines has been developed to the VME standard on the basis of MC100EP195 large-scale integration circuits. The resolution of the module is 10 ps, and the control range of delay times is 2–12 ns. The characteristics of the module have been verified during tests of it at CERN in 2005.