  The LHCb experiment(Fig. 1), that is presently taking data at CERN (European
Center for Nuclear Research) Large Hadron Collider (LHC), aims at the study of
CP violation in the B meson sector. Its key elements is the Muon detector [1],
which allows triggering, and muon identification from inclusive b decays. The
electronic system (Fig. 2) of the whole detector is very complex and its Muon
detector Experiment Control System (ECS) allows monitoring and control of a
number of Front-End boards in excess of 7000. The present system in charge of
controlling Muon detector Front-End (FE) Electronics consists of 10 Crates of
equipment; each crate contains two kinds of modules: a Pulse Distribution
Module (PDM) and up to 20 Service Boards (SB) connected via a custom Backplane
for a total amount of about 800 microcontrollers[2]. LHCb upgrade is planned
for 2018/19, which will allow the detector to exploit higher luminosity
running. This upgrade will allow the experiment to accumulate more luminosity
to allow measurements that are more precise. The main idea of the new
architecture take advantage of the new CERN fast communication protocol GBT[3]
developed for radiation environment leaving unchanged the huge connectivity to
the detector and the modularity of the system. The new chipset GBTx and
GBT-SCA[4] developed at CERN and the availability of more powerful computers
allow designing a new system with fast link to the detector. In the new system,
the control unit are moved from the apparatus to the computers in control room
instead of the actual system where the low speed bus send high level commands
to intelligent unit in the detector.
