LASSIE: the large analogue signal and scaling information environment for FAIR

At FAIR, the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, several new accelerators and storage rings such as the SIS-100, HESR, CR, the inter-connecting HEBT beam lines, S-FRS and experiments will be built. All of these installations are equipped with beam diagnostic devices and other components, which deliver time-resolved analogue signals to show status, quality and performance of the accelerators. These signals can originate from particle detectors such as ionization chambers and plastic scintillators, but also from adapted output signals of transformers, collimators, magnet functions, RF cavities and others. To visualize and precisely correlate the time axis of all input signals a dedicated FESA based data acquisition and analysis system named LASSIE, the Large Analogue Signal and Scaling Information Environment, is currently being developed. The main operation mode of LASSIE is currently pulse counting with latching VME scaler boards. Later enhancements for ADC, QDC, or TDC digitization in the future are foreseen. The concept, features and challenges of this large distributed data acquisition system are presented. (authors)