ICALEPCS2011 - List of Authors (Harrison, J.J.)

Paper

Title

Page

Embedded Linux on FPGA Instruments for Control Interface and Remote Management

1271

B.K. Huang, R.M. Myers, R.M. Sharples
Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
G. Cunningham, G.A. Naylor
CCFE, Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom
O. Goudard
ESRF, Grenoble, France
J.J. Harrison
Merton College, Oxford, United Kingdom
R.G.L. Vann
York University, Heslington, York, United Kingdom

Funding: This work was part-funded by the RCUK Energy Programme under grant EP/I501045 and the European Communities under the contract of Association between EURATOM and CCFE.
FPGAs are now large enough that they can easily accommodate an embedded 32-bit processor which can be used to great advantage. Running embedded Linux gives the user many more options for interfacing to their FPGA-based instrument, and in some cases this enables removal of the middle-person PC. It is now possible to manage the instrument directly by widely used control systems such EPICS or TANGO. As an example, on MAST (the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, a new vertical feedback system is under development in which waveform coefficients can be changed between plasma discharges to define the plasma position behaviour. Additionally it is possible to use the embedded processor to facilitate remote updating of firmware which, in combination with a watchdog and network booting ensures that full remote management over Ethernet is possible. We also discuss UDP data streaming using embedded Linux and a web based control interface running on the embedded processor to interface to the FPGA board.

Slides THDAULT04 [2.267 MB]

Paper	Title	Page
THDAULT04	Embedded Linux on FPGA Instruments for Control Interface and Remote Management	1271
	B.K. Huang, R.M. Myers, R.M. Sharples Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom G. Cunningham, G.A. Naylor CCFE, Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom O. Goudard ESRF, Grenoble, France J.J. Harrison Merton College, Oxford, United Kingdom R.G.L. Vann York University, Heslington, York, United Kingdom
	Funding: This work was part-funded by the RCUK Energy Programme under grant EP/I501045 and the European Communities under the contract of Association between EURATOM and CCFE. FPGAs are now large enough that they can easily accommodate an embedded 32-bit processor which can be used to great advantage. Running embedded Linux gives the user many more options for interfacing to their FPGA-based instrument, and in some cases this enables removal of the middle-person PC. It is now possible to manage the instrument directly by widely used control systems such EPICS or TANGO. As an example, on MAST (the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, a new vertical feedback system is under development in which waveform coefficients can be changed between plasma discharges to define the plasma position behaviour. Additionally it is possible to use the embedded processor to facilitate remote updating of firmware which, in combination with a watchdog and network booting ensures that full remote management over Ethernet is possible. We also discuss UDP data streaming using embedded Linux and a web based control interface running on the embedded processor to interface to the FPGA board.
	Slides THDAULT04 [2.267 MB]