Patent ID: 7326906

Claim:
A readout system, comprising: a data channel for conveying data; a first plurality of detector units, each detector unit comprising: an input which is arranged to receive a pulse having a magnitude; a storage buffer which is arranged to store an indication of the magnitude; and output circuitry which is coupled to output a request-to-read signal in response to the storage buffer receiving the pulse, and to output the indication to the data channel upon receiving a select signal in response to the request-to-read signal; a processor, which is coupled to receive the request-to-read signal and in response transmit the select signal, and which is coupled to read the indication from the data channel; and a plurality of selectors, which are coupled as a tree of hierarchical rows comprising decreasing numbers of selectors, and which are arranged to convey the request-to-read signal from the detector unit to the processor, and to convey the select signal from the processor to the detector unit, thereby causing the processor to read the indication.