Network Intelligence Fault Tolerance is NIFTY

Particle physics experiments cover sizable surface areas with sensor arrays to measure patterns of subatomic particles produced in experiments. These must operate without access for years in harsh environments, such as cryogenic temperature or ionizing radiation. Single point failures in such systems can become a major hurdle. Failures can stem from manufacturing random defects, or they can be induced in transient or permanent ways during operation in the harsh conditions. The NIFTY project develops network architectures with built-in intelligence to make detectors tolerant to such effects and at the same time provide data load balancing to optimize readout bandwidth.

This work is funded by the Department of Energy, office of High Energy Physics.