• M.C.L. Buzio, P. Galbraith, S.S. Gilardoni, D. Giloteaux, G. Golluccio, C. Petrone, L. Walckiers
  CERN, Geneva
• A. Beaumont
  EBG MedAustron, Wr. Neustadt

At CERN, the control of five of the accelerators in the injector chain (i.e. PS, PS Booster, SPS, LEIR and AD) is based upon real-time magnetic measurements in a reference magnet. These systems ("B-trains") include usually a field marker to signal the achievement of a given field value, complemented by one or more pick-up coils to integrate flux changes. Recently, some issues have been raised concerning long-term reliability and possible performance improvements, in terms of both resolution and operational flexibility, for these systems. This paper reports the results of R&D activities launched to address these concerns, namely: the development of a novel ferrite gradient compensator to enable dynamic NMR field marking in the PS' combined function magnets; and the preliminary design of a standardized electronic acquisition and conditioning system aimed at enabling the requested improvements and at facilitating rapid maintenance interventions.