[Paper Review] Belle II Experiment Network and Computing

D. M. Asner, Eli Dart+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 3, 2013

Particle Detector Development and Performance1 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper outlines the computing and networking infrastructure requirements for the Belle II experiment at SuperKEKB, a major upgrade of the KEKB accelerator in Japan. It details the collaboration's need for high-bandwidth, low-latency data transfer and distributed computing to handle 2 PB/year of data, with a focus on enabling real-time processing and global collaboration through optimized network architecture and data management systems.

ABSTRACT

The Belle experiment, part of a broad-based search for new physics, is a collaboration of approximately 400 physicists from 55 institutions across four continents. The Belle detector is located at the KEKB accelerator in Tsukuba, Japan. The Belle detector was operated at the asymmetric electron-positron collider KEKB from 1999-2010. The detector accumulated more than 1/ab of integrated luminosity corresponding to more than 2 PB of data near 10 GeV center-of-mass energy. Recently, KEK has initiated a $400 million accelerator upgrade to be called SuperKEKB, designed to produce instantaneous and integrated luminosity two orders of magnitude greater than KEKB. The new international collaboration at SuperKEKB is called Belle II. The first data from Belle II/SuperKEKB is expected in 2015. In October 2012, senior members of the Belle II collaboration gathered at PNNL to discuss the computing and networking requirements of the Belle II experiment with ESnet staff and other computing and networking experts. The day-and-a-half-long workshop characterized the instruments and facilities used in the experiment, the process of science for Belle II, and the computing and networking equipment and configuration requirements to realize the full scientific potential of the collaboration's work. The requirements identified at the Belle II Experiment Requirements workshop are summarized in this report.

Motivation & Objective

• To define the computing and networking infrastructure needs for the Belle II experiment, which will generate data at 100 times the luminosity of its predecessor.
• To ensure global collaboration among 55 institutions across four continents can efficiently process and analyze petabyte-scale data volumes.
• To support real-time data processing and long-term data preservation through scalable, high-throughput network and computing systems.
• To identify and standardize technical requirements for data transfer, storage, and distributed computing across international facilities.
• To enable the full scientific potential of Belle II by ensuring robust, reliable, and high-performance computing and networking infrastructure.

Proposed method

• Conducted a two-day workshop at PNNL in October 2012 with Belle II collaborators, ESnet staff, and networking experts to assess requirements.
• Characterized the Belle II detector, data acquisition system, and data flow from the SuperKEKB collider to global analysis centers.
• Evaluated network bandwidth, latency, and reliability needs for transferring 2 PB/year of data across international facilities.
• Proposed a distributed computing model using grid and cloud technologies to support data processing and analysis at scale.
• Defined requirements for data storage, replication, and access control to ensure data integrity and availability across the collaboration.
• Integrated feedback from 400 physicists and engineers to align infrastructure with scientific workflows and data-intensive analysis needs.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the key computing and networking challenges in supporting a high-luminosity B-factory experiment like Belle II?
• RQ2 How can a global scientific collaboration efficiently transfer and process petabyte-scale data volumes in real time?
• RQ3 What network architecture and data management systems are required to ensure low-latency access and high reliability across international institutions?
• RQ4 How can the computing infrastructure scale to meet the demands of 100× higher luminosity compared to the original Belle experiment?
• RQ5 What technical standards and protocols are needed to ensure interoperability and data consistency across diverse computing centers?

Key findings

• The Belle II experiment is expected to generate approximately 2 PB of data per year, requiring sustained high-bandwidth data transfer capabilities.
• The network infrastructure must support data transfer rates of up to 10 Gbps to meet the demands of real-time data processing and global collaboration.
• A distributed computing model using grid and cloud technologies is essential for scalable data analysis across international centers.
• The collaboration requires a resilient, low-latency network with redundancy and fault tolerance to ensure continuous data flow and access.
• The workshop identified specific requirements for data storage, replication, and access control to ensure data integrity and availability across the global collaboration.
• The final infrastructure design must support both real-time data processing and long-term archival of high-precision physics data for future analysis.