PT Journal AU ATLAS Collaboration (Aad, Gea Aparisi Pozo, JA Bailey, AJ Cabrera Urban, S Cardillo, F Castillo Gimenez, V Costa, MJ Escobar, C Estrada Pastor, O Ferrer, A Fiorini, L Fullana Torregrosa, E Fuster, J Garcia, C Garcia Navarro, JE Gonzalez de la Hoz, S Gonzalvo Rodriguez, GR Guerrero Rojas, JGR Higon-Rodriguez, E Lacasta, C Lozano Bahilo, JJ Mamuzic, J Marti-Garcia, S Martinez Agullo, P Mitsou, VA Moreno Llacer, M Navarro-Gonzalez, J Poveda, J Prades IbaƱez, A Ruiz-Martinez, A Sabatini, P Salt, J Sayago Galvan, I Soldevila, U Sanchez, J Torro Pastor, E Valero, A Valls Ferrer, JA Villaplana Perez, M Vos, M TI The ATLAS Fast TracKer system SO Journal of Instrumentation JI J. Instrum. PY 2021 BP P07006 - 61pp VL 16 IS 7 DI 10.1088/1748-0221/16/07/P07006 LA English DE Modular electronics; Online farms and online filtering; Pattern recognition; cluster finding; calibration and fitting methods; Trigger concepts and systems (hardware and software) AB The ATLAS Fast TracKer (FTK) was designed to provide full tracking for the ATLAS high-level trigger by using pattern recognition based on Associative Memory (AM) chips and fitting in high-speed field programmable gate arrays. The tracks found by the FTK are based on inputs from all modules of the pixel and silicon microstrip trackers. The as-built FTK system and components are described, as is the online software used to control them while running in the ATLAS data acquisition system. Also described is the simulation of the FTK hardware and the optimization of the AM pattern banks. An optimization for long-lived particles with large impact parameter values is included. A test of the FTK system with the data playback facility that allowed the FTK to be commissioned during the shutdown between Run 2 and Run 3 of the LHC is reported. The resulting tracks from part of the FTK system covering a limited eta-phi region of the detector are compared with the output from the FTK simulation. It is shown that FTK performance is in good agreement with the simulation. ER