The RPC-based proposal for the ATLAS forward muon trigger upgrade in view of super-LHC

The innermost station of the present ATLAS forward muon detector needs to be upgraded for the super-LHC. We present a proposal to replace it with a sandwiched detector composed of several layers of small-radius Monitored Drift Tube chambers (sMDT) for precision tracking measurement and two stations of multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (mRPC) for triggering purpose. We describe the layout of the upgraded detector and the trigger strategy. Several modifications to the RPCs used in the ATLAS barrel region are needed to satisfy the super-LHC requirements. Various studies with the proposed mRPC timing resolution, spatial resolution and rate capability have been performed.