Modern middleware for the data acquisition of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Abstract: The data acquisition system (DAQ) of the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) must be ef- ficient, modular and robust to be able to cope with the very large data rate of up to 550 Gbps coming from many telescopes with different characteristics. The use of modern middleware, namely ZeroMQ and Protocol Buffers, can help to achieve these goals while keeping the development effort to a reasonable level. Protocol Buffers are used as an on-line data for- mat, while ZeroMQ is employed to communicate between processes. The DAQ will be controlled and monitored by the Alma Common Software (ACS). Protocol Buffers from Google are a way to define high-level data structures through an in- terface description language (IDL) and a meta-compiler. ZeroMQ is a middleware that augments the capabilities of TCP/IP sockets. It does not implement very high-level features like those found in CORBA for example, but makes use of sockets easier, more robust and almost as effective as raw TCP. The use of these two middlewares enabled us to rapidly develop a robust prototype of the DAQ including data persistence to compressed FITS files.