Time-dependent readout quality control for the ALICE TPC*

This project tests the readout electronics of the upgraded Time Projection Chamber (TPC) for the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. This particle detector resides in a magnetic field and utilizes an additional electric field to achieve a three-dimensional reconstruction of a particle’s trajectory or interaction inside a sensitive gas volume. Versatile Transceivers (VTRx) are a component on the Front-End Cards that send/receive data via optical fibers. Early studies have indicated that the ‘Receive Strength Indicator (RSSI)’ data is drifting as a function of time for many of the installed VTRx, which can result in reduced data efficiency or total failure.  We report research that utilizes programming tools, proficient in time-dependent data structures, which will enable improved monitoring for vast amounts of recorded data. We show that our efficient monitoring properly documents the relevant recovery rates for the TPC readout.