Quench Detection System Consolidation for the HL-LHC Era

The High Luminosity LHC project (HL-LHC) will lead to increased radiation loads in some of the existing areas of LHC. To anticipate that and to replace aging equipment based on obsolete technologies, a consolidation program for the quench detection systems (QDS) of LHC's superconducting magnet circuits was launched. The existing technology based on digital signal processors and microcontrollers is replaced by radiation tolerant field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). These components provide a significantly increased radiation tolerance and act as a replacement of meanwhile obsolescent components. Two versatile quench detection boards, two acquisition controller boards and one radiation tolerant power supply form the basic building blocks of this consolidation campaign. This contribution gives an overview about the new FPGA-based quench detectors as well as the acquisition controllers. The versatile design and the software-defined algorithms of these building blocks allow to upgrade several classes of quench detectors on LHC's main and corrector magnets. Dependent on the use case, the original functionality of the protection devices is replaced by a functionally improved device or new features are added to enhance diagnostics and protection of the superconducting circuits.