A time-multiplexed track-trigger for the CMS HL-LHC upgrade

A new CMS Tracker is under development for operation at the High Luminosity LHC from 2025. It includes an outer tracker based on special modules of two different types which will construct track stubs using spatially coincident clusters in two closely spaced sensor layers, to reject low transverse momentum track hits and reduce the data volume before data transmission to the Level-1 trigger. The tracker data will be used to reconstruct track segments in dedicated processors before onward transmission to other trigger processors which will combine tracker information with data originating from the calorimeter and muon detectors, to make the final L1 trigger decision. The architecture for processing the tracker data outside the detector is under study, using several alternative approaches. One attractive possibility is to exploit a Time Multiplexed design similar to the one which is currently being implemented in the CMS calorimeter trigger as part of the Phase I trigger upgrade. The novel Time Multiplexed Trigger concept is explained, the potential benefits for processing future tracker data are described and a feasible design based on currently existing hardware is outlined.