Kchip : A Radiation Tolerant Digital Data Concentrator chip for the CMS Preshower Detector

The Kchip is a digital chip for the CMS Preshower detector front-end readout electronics. Its primary function is to merge up to four digital data streams into one and format them in a way suitable to be sent over an optical high speed link. The Kchip has been developed in a commercial 0.25 μm CMOS technology using radiation tolerant layout techniques. Special design considerations were also taken in order to protect the operation of the chip against Single Event Upsets. This paper introduces briefly the front end readout architecture of the CMS Preshower silicon strip detector and presents the design of the Kchip. The experimental test results from the first prototype chip are reported.