LHCb - Demonstration of FPGA-based track reconstruction on live LHCb data

The upgraded LHCb detector has started data taking in Run 3 with a completely new DAQ system, in which every LHC crossing is reconstructed in detail before trigger decisions are made (Real Time Analysis). This system is key to the physics objectives of LHCb performance, and the collaboration is now considering how it can be enhanced for the higher luminosities targeted by its Upgrade II. Here we describe an R&D effort towards a real-time tracking device based on a distributed system of FPGAs, that would provide early reconstruction primitives at the pre-build level to accelerate the reconstruction process in HLT1 and HLT2. We show first results from a prototype device currently running opportunistically on live LHCb data during Run 3 physics data taking. This technology forms the basis of a project for accelerating the computationally expensive and important task of track reconstruction in the forward region. This project is currently being considered by the LHCb collaboration as a LS3 enhancement