The Gigabit Link Interface Board (GLIB), a flexible system for the evaluation and use of GBT-based optical links

The Gigabit Link Interface Board (GLIB) is an evaluation platform and an easy entry point for users of high speed optical links in high energy physics experiments. Its intended use ranges from optical link evaluation in the laboratory to control, triggering and data acquisition from remote modules in beam or irradiation tests. The GLIB is an FPGA-based Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) conceived to serve a small and simple system residing either inside a Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture (mu TCA) crate, or on a bench with a link to a PC. This paper presents the architecture of the GLIB, its features as well as examples of its use in different setups.