ICALEPCS2011 - List of Authors (Barbalace, A.)

Paper

Title

Page

Use of ITER CODAC Core System in SPIDER Ion Source

801

C. Taliercio, A. Barbalace, M. Breda, R. Capobianco, A. Luchetta, G. Manduchi, F. Molon, M. Moressa, P. Simionato
Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy

In February 2011 ITER released a new version (v2) of the CODAC Core System. In addition to the selected EPICS core, the new package includes also several tools from Control System Studio [1]. These tools are all integrated in Eclipse and offer an integrated environment for development and operation. The SPIDER Ion Source experiment is the first experiment planned in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility under construction at Consorzio RFX, Padova, Italy. As the final product of the Test Facility is the ITER Neutral Beam Injector, we decided to adhere since the beginning to the ITER CODAC guidelines. Therefore the EPICS system provided in the CODAC Core System will be used in SPIDER for plant control and supervision and, to some extent, for data acquisition. In this paper we report our experience in the usage of CODAC Core System v2 in the implementation of the control system of SPIDER and, in particular, we analyze the benefits and drawbacks of the Self Description Data (SDD) tools which, based on a XML description of the signals involved in the system, provide the automatic generation of the configuration files for the EPICS tools and PLC data exchange.
[1] Control System Studio home page: http://css.desy.de/content/index_eng.html

WEPMN036

Comparative Analysis of EPICS IOC and MARTe for the Development of a Hard Real-Time Control Application

961

A. Barbalace, A. Luchetta, G. Manduchi, C. Taliercio
Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy
B. Carvalho, D.F. Valcárcel
IPFN, Lisbon, Portugal

EPICS is used worldwide to build distributed control systems for scientific experiments. The EPICS software suite is based around the Channel Access (CA) network protocol that allows the communication of different EPICS clients and servers in a distributed architecture. Servers are called Input/Output Controllers (IOCs) and perform real-world I/O or local control tasks. EPICS IOCs were originally designed for VxWorks to meet the demanding real-time requirements of control algorithms and have lately been ported to different operating systems. The MARTe framework has recently been adopted to develop an increasing number of hard real-time systems in different fusion experiments. MARTe is a software library that allows the rapid and modular development of stand-alone hard real-time control applications on different operating systems. MARTe has been created to be portable and during the last years it has evolved to follow the multicore evolution. In this paper we review several implementation differences between EPICS IOC and MARTe. We dissect their internal data structures and synchronization mechanisms to understand what happens behind the scenes. Differences in the component based approach and in the concurrent model of computation in EPICS IOC and MARTe are explained. Such differences lead to distinct time models in the computational blocks and distinct real-time capabilities of the two frameworks that a developer must be aware of.

Poster WEPMN036 [2.406 MB]

THDAULT06

MARTe Framework: a Middleware for Real-time Applications Development

1277

A. Neto, D. Alves, B. Carvalho, P.J. Carvalho, H. Fernandes, D.F. Valcárcel
IPFN, Lisbon, Portugal
A. Barbalace, G. Manduchi
Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy
L. Boncagni
ENEA C.R. Frascati, Frascati (Roma), Italy
G. De Tommasi
CREATE, Napoli, Italy
P. McCullen, A.V. Stephen
CCFE, Culham, Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom
F. Sartori
F4E, Barcelona, Spain
R. Vitelli
Università di Roma II Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
L. Zabeo
ITER Organization, St. Paul lez Durance, France

Funding: This work was supported by the European Communities under the contract of Association between EURATOM/IST and was carried out within the framework of the European Fusion Development Agreement
The Multi-threaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a C++ framework that provides a development environment for the design and deployment of real-time applications, e.g. control systems. The kernel of MARTe comprises a set of data-driven independent blocks, connected using a shared bus. This modular design enforces a clear boundary between algorithms, hardware interaction and system configuration. The architecture, being multi-platform, facilitates the test and commissioning of new systems, enabling the execution of plant models in offline environments and with the hardware-in-the-loop, whilst also providing a set of non-intrusive introspection and logging facilities. Furthermore, applications can be developed in non real-time environments and deployed in a real-time operating system, using exactly the same code and configuration data. The framework is already being used in several fusion experiments, with control cycles ranging from 50 microseconds to 10 milliseconds exhibiting jitters of less than 2%, using VxWorks, RTAI or Linux. Codes can also be developed and executed in Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X. This paper discusses the main design concepts of MARTe, in particular the architectural choices which enabled the combination of real-time accuracy, performance and robustness with complex and modular data driven applications.

Slides THDAULT06 [1.535 MB]

Paper	Title	Page
WEPKS011	Use of ITER CODAC Core System in SPIDER Ion Source	801
	C. Taliercio, A. Barbalace, M. Breda, R. Capobianco, A. Luchetta, G. Manduchi, F. Molon, M. Moressa, P. Simionato Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy
	In February 2011 ITER released a new version (v2) of the CODAC Core System. In addition to the selected EPICS core, the new package includes also several tools from Control System Studio [1]. These tools are all integrated in Eclipse and offer an integrated environment for development and operation. The SPIDER Ion Source experiment is the first experiment planned in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility under construction at Consorzio RFX, Padova, Italy. As the final product of the Test Facility is the ITER Neutral Beam Injector, we decided to adhere since the beginning to the ITER CODAC guidelines. Therefore the EPICS system provided in the CODAC Core System will be used in SPIDER for plant control and supervision and, to some extent, for data acquisition. In this paper we report our experience in the usage of CODAC Core System v2 in the implementation of the control system of SPIDER and, in particular, we analyze the benefits and drawbacks of the Self Description Data (SDD) tools which, based on a XML description of the signals involved in the system, provide the automatic generation of the configuration files for the EPICS tools and PLC data exchange. [1] Control System Studio home page: http://css.desy.de/content/index_eng.html

WEPMN036	Comparative Analysis of EPICS IOC and MARTe for the Development of a Hard Real-Time Control Application	961
	A. Barbalace, A. Luchetta, G. Manduchi, C. Taliercio Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy B. Carvalho, D.F. Valcárcel IPFN, Lisbon, Portugal
	EPICS is used worldwide to build distributed control systems for scientific experiments. The EPICS software suite is based around the Channel Access (CA) network protocol that allows the communication of different EPICS clients and servers in a distributed architecture. Servers are called Input/Output Controllers (IOCs) and perform real-world I/O or local control tasks. EPICS IOCs were originally designed for VxWorks to meet the demanding real-time requirements of control algorithms and have lately been ported to different operating systems. The MARTe framework has recently been adopted to develop an increasing number of hard real-time systems in different fusion experiments. MARTe is a software library that allows the rapid and modular development of stand-alone hard real-time control applications on different operating systems. MARTe has been created to be portable and during the last years it has evolved to follow the multicore evolution. In this paper we review several implementation differences between EPICS IOC and MARTe. We dissect their internal data structures and synchronization mechanisms to understand what happens behind the scenes. Differences in the component based approach and in the concurrent model of computation in EPICS IOC and MARTe are explained. Such differences lead to distinct time models in the computational blocks and distinct real-time capabilities of the two frameworks that a developer must be aware of.
	Poster WEPMN036 [2.406 MB]

THDAULT06	MARTe Framework: a Middleware for Real-time Applications Development	1277
	A. Neto, D. Alves, B. Carvalho, P.J. Carvalho, H. Fernandes, D.F. Valcárcel IPFN, Lisbon, Portugal A. Barbalace, G. Manduchi Consorzio RFX, Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Padova, Italy L. Boncagni ENEA C.R. Frascati, Frascati (Roma), Italy G. De Tommasi CREATE, Napoli, Italy P. McCullen, A.V. Stephen CCFE, Culham, Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom F. Sartori F4E, Barcelona, Spain R. Vitelli Università di Roma II Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy L. Zabeo ITER Organization, St. Paul lez Durance, France
	Funding: This work was supported by the European Communities under the contract of Association between EURATOM/IST and was carried out within the framework of the European Fusion Development Agreement The Multi-threaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a C++ framework that provides a development environment for the design and deployment of real-time applications, e.g. control systems. The kernel of MARTe comprises a set of data-driven independent blocks, connected using a shared bus. This modular design enforces a clear boundary between algorithms, hardware interaction and system configuration. The architecture, being multi-platform, facilitates the test and commissioning of new systems, enabling the execution of plant models in offline environments and with the hardware-in-the-loop, whilst also providing a set of non-intrusive introspection and logging facilities. Furthermore, applications can be developed in non real-time environments and deployed in a real-time operating system, using exactly the same code and configuration data. The framework is already being used in several fusion experiments, with control cycles ranging from 50 microseconds to 10 milliseconds exhibiting jitters of less than 2%, using VxWorks, RTAI or Linux. Codes can also be developed and executed in Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X. This paper discusses the main design concepts of MARTe, in particular the architectural choices which enabled the combination of real-time accuracy, performance and robustness with complex and modular data driven applications.
	Slides THDAULT06 [1.535 MB]