  The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will open a new era in high energy physics.
The expected large cross section for heavy flavour production in proton-proton
collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 14 TeV will allow detailed studies of the production
mechanisms and an extensive test of Quantum Chromodynamics. Since charm and
beauty has been proposed as a good probe to study hot and dense QCD matter, the
understanding of the production mechanisms in elementary proton-proton
collisions is of primary importance as a reference for studies in heavy-ion
collisions. In the early phase of LHC operation the experiments will focus on
the investigation of the heavy flavour production mechanisms.
