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TOAB04 | The LIGO Detectors Controls | laser, controls, site, feedback | 68 | |||||
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All three LIGO detectors have reached their design sensitivities. A sky-averaged detection range (SNR > 8) of more than 15 Mpc for inspiral binary neutron stars with masses of 1.4 Msol has been achieved with the two 4 km instruments. The fifth LIGO science started in November 2006 and more than 300 days of coincidence data has been collected so far. The feedback controls system is a major component to make LIGO work and its performance has been crucial to achieve the present sensitivity.
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TPPA08 | Java Swing-Based Plotting Package Residing Within XAL | controls, SNS | 102 | |||||
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A Java swing-based data plotting package residing within the XAL framework is presented. The data types are described that can be used for charts, bar charts, and color-surface plots. The algorithms, performance, interactive capabilities, limitations, and the best usage practices of this plotting package are discussed.
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TPPA16 | Development of the Software Tools Using Python for EPICS-Based Control System | controls, collider, accumulation | 120 | |||||
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In the commissioning phase of accelerators, many application programs are built and modified frequently by nonexpert programmers. Scripting language such as Python is suitable for such quick development. Since EPICS Channel Access interface library in Python was developed in KEKB accelerator control system, many programs has been written in Python. We have been developing, providing some tools and libraries for Python programming. Some of the recent developments in KEK are reported, and possible applications are also discussed.
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TPPA20 | Canone A Highly-Interactive Web-Based Control System Interface | controls, monitoring | 129 | |||||
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In the recent years, usability of web applications has significantly improved, approaching that of rich desktop applications. Example applications are numerous, e.g., many different web applications from Google. The enabling driver for these developments is the AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) architecture. Canone, originally a PHP web interface for Tango control system developed at Elettra, is one of the first attempts of long-distance interaction with the control system via Web. Users with suitable privileges can create panels consisting of various graphical widgets for monitoring and control of the process variables of the control system online. Recently, Canone was extended to interact with a control system through an abstract DAL (Data Access Layer) interface, making it applicable to EPICS and TINE as well. Also, the latest release of Canone comes with drag'n'drop functionality for creating the panels, making the framework even easier to use. This article discusses the general issues of the web-based interaction with the control system such as security, usability, network traffic and scalability, and presents the approach taken by Canone.
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TPPA21 | MDSplus Real-Time Data Access in RTAI | controls, feedback, plasma, target | 132 | |||||
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The MDSplus package is widely used in Nuclear Fusion research for data acquisition and management. Recent extensions of the system provide useful features for real-time applications, such as the possibility of locking selected data items in memory and real-time notification. The real-time extensions of MDSplus have been implemented as a set of C++ classes and can be easily ported to any target architecture by developing a few adapter classes. The real-time data access layer of MDSplus is currently available for Windows, Linux, VxWorks and RTAI. In particular, the RTAI platform is very promising in this context because it allows the co-existence of offline, non-real-time tasks with real-time ones. It is hence possible to devise an architecture where real-time functionality is handled by a few selected tasks using the real-time data access layer of MDSplus, whereas background, non-real-time activity is carried out by traditional Linux tasks. This organization may be of interest for the next generation of fusion devices with long-duration discharges, during which the system has to provide feedback control in real time and to sustain continuous data acquisition and storage.
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WOAB04 | Web-Based Electronic Operation Log System Zlog System | insertion, controls, linac, vacuum | 299 | |||||
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A Zope-based electronic operation logging system, named Zlog system, has been used since January 2004 at the KEKB and PF-AR accelerator facilities at KEK. Zope* is a Web content management system, which is based on several open source software components like Python and Postgresql. It enabled us to develop our Zlog in a short period, because the Zope system includes a development framework for Web application server. Zlog was introduced also to J-PARC/KEK-JAEA and RIBF/RIKEN, based on the experiences at KEKB and PF-AR. Zlog was proved to be quite portable even under different computer architectures. Zlog at KEKB accumulates about 1.5 million event entries so far, and images taken during the operation can be stored and viewed as well with entries. In this paper, we describe the present status and component details of the Zlog system.
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* http://www.zope.org/ |
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WOPA05 | Evolution of Visual DCT | controls, feedback, photon | 313 | |||||
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Visual DCT (Visual Database Configuration Tool) became the most advanced and popular graphical EPICS database configuration tool for creating, editing and debugging EPICS databases. EPICS is a widely used control system based on a real-time database configured via ASCII files. The most recent development achievements in Eclipse IDE, which is also a RCP application portable to many operating systems since it is written in Java, brought another perspective to development of Visual DCT. Using Eclipse GEF (Graphical Editing Framework) for graphical features and EMF (Eclipse Modeling Framework) for database code generation makes it possible for Visual DCT to become a part of the Eclipse IDE. Using Eclipse as the framework for application automatically adds common features as plug-in support, debugging tools and many others. In addition, Visual DCT could be used as a part of the CSS (Control System Studio) allowing easy handling of EPICS databases using MB3 (mouse button 3) and drag and drop functionalities.
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WPPB36 | Ripple Diagnostic on BESSY II Power Supplies | power-supply, controls, storage-ring, dipole | 466 | |||||
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Keeping the ripple of power-supply currents within the specification limits is crucial for the beam stability of the BESSY storage ring. Malfunctioning or aged electronic devices cause an increase of output ripple over the years. This increase is hardly noticed by the operator or operation analysis because the slow integrating AD converters for the current readbacks filter out the ripple. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to find the connection between certain beam movements or beam noise and the faulty power supply causing it. To improve this situation, ripple information for every power supply is required within the control system. The latest series of the CAN bus-connected power-supply interface cards used at BESSY provide an additional fast AD converter. With a sampling frequency of 83.5kHz, this ADC samples ripple information over one period of the mains voltage. The results are transferred over the CAN bus to the EPICS-based control system and can be processed in the usual ways. Using this setup, even temporarily increased ripple can be detected without complex measurement methods.
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ROAB02 | Software Development and Testing: Approach and Challenges in a Distributed HEP Collaboration | controls, target, site, feedback | 503 | |||||
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In the development of the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) software, the iterative waterfall model, evolutionary process management, formal software inspection, as well as lightweight review techniques are applied. The long preparation phase with a geographically widespread team required that the standard techniques be adapted to this HEP environment. Special emphasis is given to the testing process. Unit tests and check targets in nightly project builds form the basis for the subsequent software project release testing. The integrated software is then run on computing farms that give further opportunity for gaining experience, fault finding, and acquiring ideas for improvement. Dedicated tests on a farm of up to 1000 nodes address the large-scale aspect of the project. Integration test activities on the experimental site include the special purpose-built event readout hardware. Deployment in detector commissioning starts the countdown towards running the final ATLAS experiment. These activities aim at understanding and completing the complex system, but also help in forming a team whose members have a variety of expertise, working cultures, and professional backgrounds.
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ROPA02 | The High Performance Database Archiver for the LHC Experiments | insertion, controls, simulation, collider | 517 | |||||
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Each of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments will be controlled by a large distributed system built with the SCADA tool PVSS. There will be about 150 computers and millions of input/output channels per experiment. The values read from the hardware, alarms generated, and user actions will be archived for the physics analysis and for the debugging of the control system itself. Although the original PVSS implementation of a database archiver was appropriate for standard industrial use, the performance was not enough. A collaboration was set up between CERN and ETM, the company that develops PVSS. Changes in the architecture and several optimizations were made and tested in a system of a comparable size to the final ones. As a result we have been able to improve the performance by more than one order of magnitude, and what is more important, we now have a scalable architecture based on the Oracle clustering technology (Real Application Cluster or RAC). This architecture can deal with the requirements for insertion rate, data querying, and manageability of the high volume of data (e.g., an insertion rate of > 150,000 changes/s was achieved with a 6-node RAC cluster).
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RPPA05 | Software Management of the LHC Detector Control Systems | controls, target, collider, hadron | 532 | |||||
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The control systems of each of the LHC experiments contain on the order of 150 computers running the back-end applications that are based on the PVSS SCADA package and the Joint Controls Project (JCOP) Framework. These inter-cooperating controls applications are being developed by different groups all around the world and have to be integrated by the experiments central controls teams. These applications will have to be maintained and eventually upgraded during the lifetime of the LHC experiments, ~20 years. This paper presents the centralized software management strategy based on the JCOP framework installation tool, a central repository shared by the different controls applications and an external database that holds the overall system configuration. The framework installation tool allows installation of software components in the sub-detector PVSS applications and eases integration of different parts of a control system. The information stored in the system configuration database can also be used by the installation tool to restore a computer in the event of failure. The central repository provides versioning of the various software components integrating the control system.
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RPPA33 | Search for a Reliable Storage Architecture for RHIC | controls, heavy-ion, collider, diagnostics | 585 | |||||
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Software used to operate the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) resides on one operational RAID storage system. This storage system is also used to store data that reflects the status and recent history of accelerator operations. Failure of this system interrupts the operation of the accelerator as backup systems are brought online. In order to increase the reliability of this critical control system component, the storage system architecture has been upgraded to use Storage Area Network (SAN) technology and to introduce redundant components and redundant storage paths. This paper describes the evolution of the storage system, the contributions to reliability that each additional feature has provided, further improvements that are being considered, and real-life experience with the current system.
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RPPB14 | Systematic Production of Beamline and Other Turnkey Control Systems | controls, target, extraction, site | 632 | |||||
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Turnkey oriented accelerator control system production is often quite complex and challenging. It involves software development as well as substantial project management effort and, almost always, an on-site installation. Most of the labs have developed solutions that to some extent support such processes, but are tailored to the lab's particular needs and environment. We could not recycle these solutions, as we had to keep the choices open for defining the naming convention and choosing the operating system, platform, and even the control system. Based on our experience with control systems, we have defined a complete set of processes that prescribe the highest level of quality and efficiency in all the project segments. To implement these processes, we have developed a number of tools for composing, configuring, and deploying the control system software. Use of these tools enforces strict version control and traceability, enables centralized configuration of the system, and largely reduces the possibility of human errors. These tools also enable us to reuse well-tested building blocks, leaving us more time for system-wide quality assurance.
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RPPB22 | Tracking Accelerator Settings | insertion, controls, diagnostics | 653 | |||||
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Recording setting changes within an accelerator facility provides information that can be used to answer questions about when, why, and how changes were made to some accelerator system. This can be very useful during normal operations, but can also aid with security concerns and in detecting unusual software behavior. The Set History System (SHS) is a new client/server system developed at the Collider-Accelerator Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory to provide these capabilities. The SHS has been operational for over two years and currently stores about 100K settings per day into a commercial database management system. The SHS system consists of a server written in Java, client tools written in both Java and C++, and a web interface for querying the database of setting changes. The design of the SHS focuses on performance, portability, and a minimal impact on database resources. In this paper, we present an overview of the system design along with benchmark results showing the performance and reliability of the SHS over the last year.
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RPPB34 | Global Search Tool for the Advanced Photon Source Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) Database | controls, photon, SNS | 683 | |||||
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The Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) is a relational database tool that has been implemented at the Advanced Photon Source to maintain an updated account of approximately 600 control system software applications, 400,000 process variables, and 30,000 control system hardware components. To effectively display this large amount of control system information to operators and engineers, IRMIS was initially built with nine Web-based viewers: Applications Organizing Index, IOC, PLC, Component Type, Installed Components, Network, Controls Spares, Process Variables, and Cables. However, since each viewer is designed to provide details from only one major category of the control system, the necessity for a one-stop global search tool for the entire database became apparent. The user requirements for extremely fast database search time and ease of navigation through search results led to the choice of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology in the implementation of the IRMIS global search tool. Unique features of the global search tool include a two-tier level of displayed search results, and a database data integrity validation and reporting mechanism.
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ROPB01 | Using Sequencing to Improve Operational Efficiency and Reliability | controls, collider, heavy-ion, power-supply | 689 | |||||
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Operation of an accelerator requires the efficient and reproducible execution of many different types of procedures. Some procedures, like beam acceleration, magnet quench recovery, and species switching can be quite complex. To improve accelerator reliability and efficiency, automated execution of procedures is required. Creation of a single robust sequencing application permits the streamlining of this process and offers many benefits in sequence creation, editing, and control. In this paper, we present key features of a sequencer application commissioned at the Collider-Accelerator Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory during the 2007 run. Included is a categorization of the different types of sequences in use, a discussion of the features considered desirable in a good sequencer, and a description of the tools created to aid in sequence construction and diagnosis. Finally, highlights from our operational experience are presented, with emphasis on Operations control of the sequencer, and the alignment of sequence construction with existing operational paradigms.
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ROPB02 | Control System Studio Applications | controls, site | 692 | |||||
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Control System Studio (CSS) is a recently started effort for implementing control system related applications, primarily targeting the operator interface, based on current software technologies (JAVA and Eclipse), with a special emphasis on interoperability. We present initial versions of several CSS applications, their features, and how the Eclipse and CSS frameworks helped or complicated their development.
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FOAB02 | Digital Phase Control System for SSRF Linac | controls, klystron, linac, cathode | 717 | |||||
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SSRF 150MeV linac includes two klystrons and two solid power amplifers, which drive two klystrons, respectively. The accelerating section is constant gradient accelerating structure, and its working frequency is 2998MHz, six times the storage ring RF frequency. In order to reach the requirement for the RF phase stability (±1 degree), the full digital phase control system, which includes RF front-end, AD, DA, and FPGA, is designed. FPGA, the key for phase control system, contains digital I/Q demoulator (phase detector), digital I/Q modulator (phase shifter), and control algorithms. Klystron forward signal is down converted to IF (12.5MHz), which is detected by ADC with 50MHz clock. Digital I/Q is generated by ADC sampling data and then sent to control algorithms in FPGA. After processed by control algorithms, digital I/Q is converted to IF by DAC (50MHz). IF signal from DAC output is up converted to RF and sent to solid RF power amplifer. With the aid of FPGA, the whole period of closed-loop is about 80ns, and delay of closed-loop is less than 600ns. The test results of digital phase control system are presented in this paper.
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FOPA03 | The TINE Control System, Overview and Status | controls, site, power-supply | 733 | |||||
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TINE (Three-fold Integrated Networking Environment) has been the Control System in use at HERA for some time, plays a major role in the Pre-accelerators at DESY, DORIS, FLASH, PITZ (Zeuthen), EMBL-Hamburg, GKSS-Hamburg, PF Beamline (KEK), and is the designated control system for the new third-generation light source PETRA3. TINE has always emphasized both performance and flexibility. For instance, using the multicast capabilities of TINE, state-of-the-art, near real-time video transmission is possible. At the same time, developers have a large toolkit and variety of software solutions at their disposal, and in general on their favorite platform and programming language. Code-generation wizards are available for rapid development of TINE servers, whereas intelligent GUI components such as ACOP(*) aid in the development of either rich or simple client applications. The most recent major release brought with it a bundle of new features and improvements. We give here an overview of the TINE control system in general, whats new in particular, and focus on those features not available in other mainstream control systems, such as EPICS or TANGO.
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* "The Acop Family of Beans: A Framework Independent Approach", J. Bobnar, et. al., these proceedings. |
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