Virtual Prototyping Framework for Pixel Detector Electronics in High Energy Physics

Abstract:
This contribution outlines the development of Pix- ESL, a virtual prototyping framework for pixel detectors based on C++/SystemC. It offers a platform for describing detector ASICs designed for High Energy Physics experiments at a high level of abstraction, with the capability to simulate the entire process from particle interaction in the sensor to the readout of a digital data packet to the experiment back-end. The framework supports modelling analog/digital front-end, readout networks, data processing and formatting. This paper details the implementation of the PixESL framework and its use in a pixel detector being developed for the LHCb experiment at CERN. The framework serves as an effective and rapid prototyping method, as well as a reference model for verification.