11th White Rabbit Workshop - 6-8 October 2021
The 11th WR workshop will be held online between the 6th and the 8th of October 2021. All times in the agenda below are for Geneva, Switzerland (CEST, i.e. GMT+2).
In order to attend, please send an email to Javier.Serrano at cern.ch and you will get a link to a Zoom meeting. Keep an eye on the white-rabbit-dev forum for communication about the workshop. You can watch the white-rabbit-dev category by setting up your preferences in Discourse. This means that you will get an email every time somebody posts something on white-rabbit-dev.
Agenda
Wednesday 6 October 2021
Time | Title | Speaker(s) |
---|---|---|
14:00 - 14:15 | Introduction to White Rabbit and to the workshop (pdf) | Javier Serrano (CERN) |
14:15 - 14:45 | Status of the core WR components: WR Switch & WR PTP Core (pdf) | Greg Daniluk (CERN) |
14:45 - 15:15 | IEEE 1588-2019 High Accuracy Profile and more (pdf) | Maciej Lipiński (CERN) |
15:15 - 15:30 | Status and update on absolute calibration of WR-devices and SFP-transceivers (pdf) | Anders Wallin (VTT), Kalle Hanhijärvi (VTT), Elizabeth Laier English (NPL), Peter Jansweijer (Nikhef) |
15:30 - 15:45 | Coffee break | |
15:45 - 16:15 | SPEC7 and HPSEC: when Low Phase Noise matters (pdf) | Peter Jansweijer (Nikhef), Guido Visser (Nikhef) |
16:15 - 16:45 | A quick tour through the available diagnostic and monitoring tools for White Rabbit Networks (pdf) | Adam Wujek (Independent Consultant) |
16:45 - 17:15 | The Bunch-to-Bucket Transfer System for FAIR - 1st Operation (pdf) | Dietrich Beck (GSI) |
Thursday 7 October 2021
Time | Title | Speaker(s) |
---|---|---|
14:00 - 14:30 | WR status at KM3NeT: current and future developments (pdf1, pdf2) | Tommaso Chiarusi (INFN), Diego Real (IFIC) |
14:30 - 15:00 | A 440 km White Rabbit link using DWDM BiDi optics and a method for automated calibration of alpha and delays (pdf) | Ragnar Sundblad (Netnod) |
15:00 - 15:30 | WR deployment and operation at LHAASO (WR_at_LHAASO.pdf) | Guanghua Gong (Tsinghua University) |
15:30 - 15:45 | Coffee break | |
15:45 - 16:15 | Porting SPEC drivers to current Linux kernels and embedded ARM boards for WRTD applications (pdf) | Mathis Marion (INPG), Gwenhael Goavec-Merou (FEMTO-ST), Jean-Michel Friedt (FEMTO-ST) |
16:15 - 16:30 | White Rabbit Infrastructure at GSI - Integration into Accelerator IT Infrastructure and Beam-Operation in 2021 (pdf) | Dietrich Beck (GSI) |
16:30 - 17:00 | The future of White Rabbit (pdf, also see WR Collaboration draft proposal) | Javier Serrano (CERN) |
Friday 8 October 2021
Time | Title | Speaker(s) |
---|---|---|
14:00 - 14:30 | White-Rabbit-powered applications that will transform telecommunication networks (as well as White Rabbit itself) (pdf) | Jeroen Koelemeij (VU Amsterdam) |
14:30 - 15:00 | White Rabbit applications at CERN (pdf) | Dimitris Lampridis (CERN) |
15:00 - 15:15 | New White Rabbit developments for Low Level RF systems (pdf) | Tomasz Włostowski (CERN) |
15:15 - 15:30 | A complete, out-of-the-box ecosystem to manage your WR network (pdf) | Adam Wujek (Independent Consultant) |
15:30 - 15:45 | Coffee break | |
15:45 - 16:00 | Cost-effective and traceable time source for high accuracy timing distribution (pdf) | Jaime Lozano (UGR) |
16:00 - 16:30 | Time-Sensitive Networking for aerospace applications (pdf) | Jorge Sánchez (7S) |
16:30 - 17:00 | Next generation White Rabbit Switch version 4 (pdf) | Maciej Lipiński (CERN) |
Short abstracts
Wednesday
- Introduction to White Rabbit and to the workshop: A quick introduction for newcomers and setting the scene for the workshop.
- Status of the core WR components: WR Switch & WR PTP Core: The presentation highlights current development status and plans for the near future of the two core components of every White Rabbit network. It will cover the main features of the latest stable release v6.0 of the WR switch firmware, ongoing developments, and plans for the WR PTP Core release v5.0
- IEEE 1588-2019 High Accuracy Profile and more: The presentation will summarize the WR standardisation process that concluded with the publication of the IEEE1588-2019 edition of the PTP standard. It will detail how the WR specification was translated into the Default High Accuracy Profile and provide the status of its implementation for WR devices. It will also provide an update on other ongoing WR-related standardisation efforts.
- Status and update on absolute calibration of WR-devices and SFP-transceivers: We will summarize the efforts and status on absolute calibration of White Rabbit devices and SFP transceivers. SPEC and SPEC7 devices have been abs-calibrated at NIKEF, VTT, and NPL – results will be compared. Absolute-calibrated optical reference-receivers are a prerequisite for SFP-calibration. Two reference-receivers have been calibrated at NIKHEF and at VTT – results will be compared. Plans for future work, e.g. transfer of absolute calibration to WR-switch and from optical reference-receiver to SFP-transceiver will be discussed.
- SPEC7 and HPSEC: when Low Phase Noise matters: SPEC7 is a successor of the well-known SPEC. It is based on a ZYNQ-7000 FPGA that contains Programmable Logic (PL) and a Processing System (PS) . Like the SPEC, the SPEC7 can operate stand alone or in a PCIe slot and can carry an FMC module. The Processing System of SPEC7 interfaces to Ethernet, USB and SD-card. Special attention was given to the SPEC7 design with respect to Low Phase Noise. The 10MHz output reaches -106 dBc/Hz at 10Hz offset out of the box. For extreme Low Phase Noise requirements SPEC7 can be operated with a high precision, ultra stable 10 MHz Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO). The High Precision Secondary External Clock (HPSEC) uses a Morion MV336 . The combination of a WR low-jitter switch and a SPEC7 + HPSEC reaches -135 dBc/Hz at 10Hz offset.
- A quick tour through the available diagnostic and monitoring tools for White Rabbit Networks: The White Rabbit project started more than 10 years ago. Since the beginning many standard and WR-specific tools were developed. This presentation gives a quick tour on available tools that can be useful for different types of WR users, from developers of WR based devices, through its users as a white box, to WR network administrators. This includes tools for debugging and monitoring of WR nodes and switches.
- The Bunch-to-Bucket Transfer System for FAIR - 1st Operation: The bunch-to-bucket (b2b) transfer system has the task of coordinating the transfer of ion beams from one accelerator ring to another at the heavy ion accelerator facility at GSI and FAIR. Technically, the system is an application using the White Rabbit based General Machine Timing system. The b2b system is presented together with first results of the 2021 beam time at GSI.
Thursday
- WR status at KM3NeT: current and future developments: The KM3NeT Collaboration is installing two neutrino telescopes at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Each telescope is made of thousands of detection elements which are underwater nodes of networks that extend from the control station onshore. Each node implements the WR technology for both Ethernet communications and time synchronization. Tommaso Chiarusi's talk: KM3NeT Phase 1 consists of the construction of a limited number of nodes, connected to shore according to a particular design, called “broadcast”. It foresees one single connection line for downward transmissions from the shore station which is then passively split up to all the underwater endpoints. On the contrary, the upstream transmissions are realised via dedicated connections per each node. This contribution aims at discussing the modification done to the WR paradigm in order to accomplish with the highly asymmetric network of KM3NeT Phase 1. Diego Real's talk: In addition, the standard White Rabbit protocol is being assessed by the Collaboration for their use in the next phases of the infrastructure. The use of standard White Rabbit implies the installation of a White Rabbit Switch at the bottom of the Detection Units and the modification of the optical and DAQ architecture, being necessary for this purpose the modification of the current White Rabbit Switch electronics and the development of a new back-plane adapted to KM3NeT requirements. The preliminary studies performed to assess the new system and to qualify the use of standard White Rabbit in KM3NeT are presented.
- A 440 km White Rabbit link using DWDM BiDi optics and a method for automated calibration of alpha and delays: A 440 km White Rabbit link built using bidirectional transmission with custom DWDM optics, outside of the C-band used by a conventional optical ROADM network, is presented. An automated method for calibrating alpha and latency variations using fiber optic switches is introduced.
- WR deployment at LHAASO and other works: The LHAASO experiment has been fully operational since last June and discovered PeVatrons from our Galaxy. The more than six thousand detector units are synchronized to sub-ns level with the help of WR technology. The deployment of the WR network and some running status will be given in this report.
- Porting SPEC drivers to current Linux kernels and embedded ARM boards for WRTD applications: In the context of distributed multistatic RADAR systems, we are considering using White Rabbit for synchronizing radiofrequency receivers. Starting with an initial demonstration receiving the continuous wave emitted by GRAVES from Eastern France at 143.05 MHz, multiple Ettus Research X310 are synchronized for complementing Doppler target velocity measurement with direction of arrival and hence location of the target. Sub-degree phase resolution along the distributed receiver array requires sub-20 ps phase alignment of the clocks driving the receivers as provided by a White Rabbit Switch associated with each X310. In order to increase the number of receiving sites by decreasing cost, size and consumption, running SPEC boards fitted with analog to digital converters on embedded boards is considered. With the wide availability of the Compute Module 4 OEM version of the Raspberry Pi 4 and its PCIe slot, the White Rabbit Trigger Distribution (WRTD) framework was ported to Buildroot used to cross-compile the embedded image. Doing so required tuning some of the driver functionality to match ARM-architecture requirements in addition to adapting to current Linux kernel API. Thanks to these efforts, runnig WRTD on embedded ARM-based boards is now functional. Perspectives include disciplining the ADC clock on White Rabbit to synchronize data sampling.
- White Rabbit Infrastructure at GSI - Integration into Accelerator IT Infrastructure and Beam-Operation in 2021: The White Rabbit based General Machine Timing System is THE timing system since 2018. Since then, it is used for operation of all three ring machines (SIS18, ESR and CRYRING) as well as all transfer lines but not yet for the injector UNILAC. This is a short report on preparation and operation of the White Rabbit infrastructure for the 2021 beam-time at GSI.
- The future of White Rabbit: An open discussion session with the aim of identifying past and current successes and issues and finding the best path forward for the WR community. In particular, we will discuss the latest draft of the WR Collaboration proposal and try to decide if there is enough support to launch the effort in 2022.
Friday
- White-Rabbit-powered applications that will transform telecommunication networks (as well as White Rabbit itself): In this talk I will consider several emerging applications of White Rabbit, such as quantum communication and terrestrial networked positioning systems, which have the potential to transform the very nature of existing telecommunication networks. To make this real, however, continued research and development of White Rabbit is going to be crucial, and I will discuss a number of possible White Rabbit upgrades that will be essential for future high-impact applications.
- White Rabbit applications at CERN: A summary of some of the most important WR applications at CERN, including White Rabbit Trigger Distribution (WRTD), the BTrain system for real-time fixed-latency distribution of magnetic field values and the use of WR to distribute RF signals. All these applications benefit from the combination of excellent synchronisation and upper-bound in message latency provided by WR.
- New White Rabbit developments for Low Level RF systems: In 2021, a new Low Level Radio Frequency system has been commissioned for the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN, relying entirely on WR for ultra-low-jitter RF distribution. The presentation describes the WR components developed within the scope of the LLRF project (eRTM14/15, WR2RF-VME, WR Switch Low Jitter), thanks to which WR can achieve performance (phase stability and phase noise) previously reserved for analog RF distribution systems. A brief description of the hardware, firmware and software as well as the techniques used to improve the WR performance will be also provided.
- A complete, out-of-the-box ecosystem to manage your WR network: When switching from an analog system for synchronization distribution to White Rabbit, coaxial cables are replaced with optic fibers. This technology leap opens new opportunities that were not possible with coaxial cables. For example the live monitoring of synchronization parameters in your installation or how actually the devices in your network are connected. However, there may be also inconveniences after the change. With more and more devices added to the WR network it is getting harder to keep track of the state of the network. Since WR is built on top of well-established network standards every user can build their own solution to manage and monitor their own WR network. There are plenty of tools available on the market. Unfortunately, there is no specific set of tools that can be used as a complete solution which takes into account White Rabbit specificities. Moreover, small and medium-sized teams may not have enough resources to maintain a configuration and management system for a WR network in an efficient way. The author of this presentation would like to survey the interest in the White Rabbit community for a complete and ready to use solution to manage small to middle-sized WR networks.
- Cost-effective and traceable time source for high accuracy timing distribution: A time transfer system is limited by the time reference it is distributing. Most of the timing networks use GNSS receivers as main reference but their accuracy or traceability to UTC is not properly handled. An embedded time source reference with high accuracy and low cost has been developed at the University of Granada based on the Common View technique in order to work as reference for White-Rabbit systems (thus these systems are able to distribute timing without degradation). Our device is traceable to a remote laboratory and it allows to obtain UTC(k), stamping events on a global scale with high accuracy and traceability. These approaches are usually performed with a high-cost atomic clock, but in this case it has been replaced by an oven-controlled oscillator (OCXO) and a high rate of corrections from a local reference. This reduces the cost of synchronization by two orders of magnitude, thus increasing the number of potential users and opening up a range of applications requiring accurate traceable time sources.
- Time-Sensitive Networking for aerospace applications: Avionics communication networks for future aerospace aircraft require greater real time, bandwidth and flexibility while preserving the determinism and reliability expected in space-grade systems. Recently, IEEE 802.1 Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) has emerged as a non vendor-locked alternative that could supersede the main aerospace onboard communication protocol technologies allowing space technologies to benefit from the convergent, deterministic, interoperable, and standards-based paradigm. This talk starts off by presenting our contribution of a TSN bus solution deployed on the Miura-1 microlauncher capable of delivering the higher bandwidth and flexibility of Gigabit Ethernet over a commercially available, off-the-shelf platform based on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 MPSoC FPGAs, which provides the economical adaptability required by changing microlauncher payloads. To this end, we have designed a lightweight FPGA logic architecture, driven by a real-time operating system (RTEMS) currently pending certification by the European Space Agency (ESA). After that, we will conclude by examining the implications of further enhancing our design with the inclusion of White Rabbit features to the synchronization component of our TSN-based avionics network. We envision that this could lead to the development of more robust networks with greater built-in levels of fault tolerance, streamline the reconfiguration process, or even pioneer novel approaches for distributing high-accuracy timing to scientific payloads.
- Next generation White Rabbit Switch version 4: The presentation will provide an overview of the ongoing development of the hardware for the next generation White Switch v4. It will describe its design specification, architecture and features as well as provide the development status and plans.