drafts of the document I generated from the recent writeups/discussion are attached below:

next is some of the off-list correspondence:

**********************************************************************

Hi --

   I updated the draft by adding a few sentences

   a) as per Gerard's suggestion down in the "option 2" section:

      "... (in the latter regard, it may also be possible to utilize
      further copies of the FGT/IST readout crates with a new BSMD FEE)".

   b) in the details "b)" section, added to the first line:

      " reliability of the FEEs, whose component failures affect nearly
      ~ 25% of the BSMD detector modules by the end of each running
      period."

      Oleg, is this the right % number? (30 FEE ass'blys out of 120).

   More comments? I'll probably send around to EMC² list also for info
and/or input.
                                    Cheers,
                                              -- Will j.

On Sun, 12 Sep 2010, flemming videbaek wrote:

Hi will,

I think all the info and words needed to add this to the decadal plan is there. I think it will be included as two possible options, but underlining that it is crucial.
best
Flemming

On Sun, 12 Sep 2010, Gerard Visser wrote:

Hi Will,
    I don't have anything particular to add to this, it looks good. The dynamic range increase will certainly be challenging and I don't think we will be able to promise anything very quantitative without some tests on the spare module. So we should try to get that going asap, of course. But there should be room for improvement relative to the current system.
    You might mention, in parallel with the idea to perhaps re-utilize existing BSMD RDO crates with a new FEE, the other idea to perhaps utilize further copies of the FGT/IST readout crates with a new BSMD FEE. It's just another option. Anyway, we will reduce the price considerably if we can leverage something we already have in STAR, certainly should try. Although, for instance, the existing BSMD RDO even with 'gut replacement' is probably going to constrain the readout speed.
    Sincerely,

        Gerard

Will Jacobs wrote:
Ciao --

   Sorry for delay ... some time ago I agreed to update the BSMD upgrade draft for the decadal/R&D committees. Ok, attached is what I generated.
Comments and corrections are very welcome. Since it was also promised
to get something to Flemming, I CC him here so that maybe he can comment
on what it is he would really like to have :) as time is running short
for the decadal plan.