ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Funding: SNS is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 for the U.S. Department of Energy
Latest technologies promise new control systems user interface features and greater interoperability of applications. New developments using Java and Eclipse aim to unify diverse control systems and make communication between applications seamless. Web based user interfaces can improve portability and remote access. Modern programming tool improve efficiency, support testing and facilitate shared code. This talk will discuss new developments aimed at improving control system interfaces and their development environment.
CERN, Geneva
Virtually all modern accelerator control systems are nowadays based on commercial-off-the-shelf products (VME crates, PLCs, SCADA systems, etc.), on Windows or Linux PCs, and on communication infrastructures using Ethernet and TCP/IP. Despite the benefits coming with this (r)evolution, these "modern" control systems and infrastructures usually completely lack adequate levels of robustness, resilience and security. Even worse, new threats are inherited, too: Worms and viruses spread within seconds via the Ethernet cable, and attackers are becoming interested in breaking into control systems. This talk will discuss the initial security risks, what precautions are needed to protect control systems against cyber threats and how to provide a secure environment without sacrificing operability.
Cosylab, Ljubljana
Accelerators are designed to be in operation for several decades, and frequently even their construction alone takes a decade or more. Given the rapid rate of obsolescence of information technologies, it becomes a challenge how to choose the technologies that would stand the test of time, or at least make long-term support manageable. In this article, we focus on middleware: the glue that keeps inherently heterogeneous control system platforms able to interoperate with each another. Modern and less-modern middlewares, such as Internet Communication Environment (ICE), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Microsoft Windows Communications Foundation (WCF) are presented, and contrasted with more domain-specific middleware, such as the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). We argue that whichever middleware technology is used, it is advisable to abstract it with simple, domain-specific APIs, whose implementation can change as the evolving performance requirements push the initial middleware choice beyond its limits of applicability.
BESSY GmbH, Berlin
HZB, Berlin
The Metrology Light Source (MLS) is in user operation since April 2008 working at energies ranging from {10}5 MeV up to 630 MeV, operating currents from a single electron up to 200 mA and different values for the momentum compaction factor. In parallel to machine commissioning, an automated finite state machine has been developed. This code knows, controls and coordinates a broad manifold of machine states and meanwhile has been evolved to an automated operator acting by itself on demand of a few high level commands. Actions range from plain device I/O to complex transactions including filesystem operations and multiple device I/O. The aim is to always keep machine and control system in a well-defined state. We describe the program and report on the experience with the automated operation using this application.
ANL, Argonne
Funding: Work supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.
The Advanced Photon Source (APS), a third-generation synchrotron light source, has been in operation for eleven years. The monopulse radio frequency (rf) beam position monitor (BPM) is one of three BPM types now employed in the storage ring at the APS. It is a broadband (10 MHz) system designed to measure single-turn and multi-turn beam positions, but it suffers from an aging data acquisition system. The replacement BPM system retains the existing monopulse receivers and replaces the data acquisition system with high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that performs the signal processing. The new system has been installed and commissioned in a full sector of the APS. This paper presents the results of testing of the beam position monitor which is now fully integrated into the storage ring orbit control and fast feedback systems.
Royal Holloway, University of London, Surrey
Kyungpook National University, Daegu
KEK, Ibaraki
UCL, London
SLAC, Menlo Park, California
Fermilab, Batavia
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
The ATF2 international collaboration is intending to demonstrate nanometre beam sizes required for the future Linear Colliders. An essential part of the beam diagnostics needed to achieve that goal is the high resolution cavity beam position monitors (BPMs). In this paper we report on the C-band system consisting of 32 BPMs spread over the whole length of the new ATF2 extraction beamline. We discuss the design of the BPMs and electronics, main features of the DAQ system, and the first operational experience with these BPMs.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
Funding: Work performed under auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC.
The role of relational database (RDB) technology plays in accelelerator control and operation continues to grow in such areas as electronic log books, machine parameter definitions, and facility infrastructure management. RDBs are increasingly relied upon to provide the official 'master' copy of these data. The services provided by the RDB have traditionally not been 'mission critical'. The availability of modern RDB management systems is now equivalent to that of standard computer file-systems, and thus RDBs can be relied on to supply (pseudo-)realtime response to operator and machine physicist requests. This paper describes recent developments in the IRMIS RDB (1) project. Generic lattice support has been added, serving as the driver for model-based machine control. Abstract physics name service, with introspection has been added. Specific emphasis has been placed both on providing fast response time to accelerator operators and modeling code requests, as well as high (24/7) availability of the RDB service.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook
Funding: Work performed under auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC
This paper presents a new extension to EPICS, approaching the Data Distributed Service (DDS) interface based on the Channel Access protocol. DDS is the next generation of the middleware industrial standards, bringing a data-centric publish-subscribe paradigm to distributed control systems. In comparison with existing middleware technologies, the data-centric approach is able to provide a consistent consolidated model supporting different data dissemination scenarios and integrating many important issues, such as quality of service, user-specific data structures, and others. The paper considers different features of the EPICS-DDS layer in the context of the accelerator high-level environment and introduces a generic interface addressing various types of accelerator toolkits and use cases.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
Funding: Work performed under auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC.
A distributed software architecture for high level applications is under development at the NSLS-II (National Synchrotron Light Source II) project. One of the important issues is to make accelerator simulation model run on a standalone model server. To enhance the capacity of the model server, it is required to have a set of narrow and general API to accommodate various existing tracking codes. A preliminary study for the API development has been started at NSLS-II based on The MMLT (Matlab Middle Layer Toolkit).A new interface is developed for the MMLT to support another simulation engine known as Tracy. A virtual accelerator is also built for the NSLS-II storage ring based on the Tracy code and the EPICS framework. Although we don't have a real machine, we can evaluate and develop our high leval application with the support of virtual accelerator. This paper describes the current status of the software architecture for high level applications.
KEK, Ibaraki
Sokendai, Ibaraki
MELCO SC, Tsukuba
SINAP, Shanghai
The 8-GeV linac at KEK provides electrons and positrons to several accelerator facilities. A 50-Hz beam-mode switching system has been constructed to realize simultaneous top-up injections for Photon Factory and the KEKB high- and low-energy rings, which require different beam characteristics. An event-based timing and control system was built to change the parameters of various accelerator components within 20 ms. The components are spread over a 600-m linac and require changes to a total of 100 timing and control parameters. The system has been operated successfully since the autumn of 2008 and has been improved upon as beam operation experience has been accumulated. It is expected to enhance the quality of the experiments at KEKB and PF. We describe the details of this new and improved control system and present status of the accelerator operation.
LBNL, Berkeley, California
Funding: Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.
The high-level software for the ALS injector control system is being rewritten synchronizing with the low-level hardware migration to the EPICS system*. New programs are all written in C# for the use on the new operator consoles that are Windows Vista PCs. We use SCA. NET for the channel access, WCF for IPC, and XML for configurations. GUI is currently in WinForm but moving to WPF. We will be reporting the result of the first release of the system from the aspect of the software development.
*The progress was reported at PCaPAC 2008 as http://users.cosylab.com/~mpelko/PCaPAC08/papers/mow02.pdf,and
http://users.cosylab.com/~mpelko/PCaPAC08/papers/tup018.pdf
LBNL, Berkeley, California
Funding: This work was supported by U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098.
The Advance Light Source (ALS) is in the process of upgrading the high-level controls software. This welcome upgrade is driven by the need for a low-level controls hardware upgrade. The risk of a failure in some of the aging controls hardware is reaching a critical level. The dilemma is that replacing the low-level hardware will break some important control room applications. An effort has been started to replace all the high-level software in a way that is compatible with an incremental low-level hardware replacement. As will be presented in this paper, the plan involves combining three very different programming methods: C#, Matlab, and EPICS tools.
PAL, Pohang, Kyungbuk
The prototypes of PBPM of the four blade types were installed in front-ends 1C1 diagnostic beam line. The four-blade PBPM measure both the horizontal and the vertical positions of the photon beam. KeithleyTM picoammeters are used to record the blade current. The position in both vertical and horizontal directions is calibrated by driving the stepping motors of the PBPM through an Industrial computer. PBPM Data Acquit ion Control System (DACS) is based on Window XP platform. The DACS is equipped with an Ethernet-to-GPIB controller (GPIB-ENET/00). Using the GPIB-ENET/100, networked computers can communicate with and control IEEE 488 devices from anywhere on an Ethernet-based TCP/IP network. This is GPIB interfaces four picoammeters and Ethernet-based TCP/IP communicates by Industrial Computer. Developing with LabVIEW for Windows XP, the interface to EPICS is accomplished by means of Win32 channel Access DLL's. Our LabVIEW application program incorporates EPICS-based motor control and PC-based data acquisition, using a National Instruments I/O board, and saves position data to txt files. This paper presents the PBPM DACS for PLS Control System.
SLAC, Menlo Park, California
Funding: Department of Energy contract DE-ACO3-76SF00515
We describe an integrated relational database for beamline element configuration and online accelerator modelling for LCLS. It is hosted in Oracle, from which online controls software, optimization applications and feedback, use a programming interface to acquire the element data and model. Database population is by an automated process starting with a MAD deck, which is processed in Matlab to derive text files that describe the beamline elements whose data are uploaded using Oracle Loader, and the resulting Oracle APEX applications and reports are used for survey, cabling, metrology and other facilities. An automated facility for online model generation creates an XAL online model beamline description file using a database query; the resulting model is then tracked, and results can be loaded back into the database. As such, both the design or extant machine model, of the present and all previous model runs are available, and linked to the relevant element configuration. We present the process flow from the MAD design to the database, the database schema, the database applications, the process of generating a machine model, and some scientific software which uses the database.
STFC/DL/ASTeC, Daresbury, Warrington, Cheshire
The ALICE accelerator is a 35MeV energy recovery linac prototype at Daresbury in the U.K. Due to the highly experimental nature of the accelerator, there has been a strong influence of accelerator physicists in the high-level control software for the machine. Starting from the underlying EPICS-based control system, a suite of interactive commissioning software has been built using traditional software approaches, such as LabVIEW, as well as experimenting with interactive, rapid prototyping programming languages, such as Mathematica. Using the EPICS Channel Access protocols, the control system is flexible and extensible. A wide range of tools can be used to develop and debug high-level software, allowing machine physicists to use the most appropriate and familiar tools for software development.
SLAC, Menlo Park, California
R.W. Downing Inc., Tucson
Funding: US Department of Energy Contract DE AC03 76SF00515.
The ILC R&D electronics program at SLAC includes development of key technologies aimed at improving reliability and availability and reducing cost. This paper discusses the development of high availability interlocks and controls for the L-Band high power RF stations. A new Fast Fault Finder (F3) VME module has been developed to process both slow interlocks using FPGA logic to detect the interlock trip excursions. This combination eliminates the need for separate PLC control of slow interlocks with modules chained together to accommodate as many inputs as needed. Next a high availability platform demonstration will port the F3’s via a specially designed VME adapter module into the new industry standard ATCA[1] crate (shelf). This high-availability platform features an Intelligent Platform Management (IPMI) system to control and monitor the health of the entire system, provide redundancy as needed for the application, and demonstrate auto-failover and hot-swap to minimize MTTR. The goal is to demonstrate “five nines” (0.99999) system availability at the shelf level. A new international initiative, the xTCA for Physics Standards Working Group, will be briefly mentioned.
[1] Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture
SLAC, Menlo Park, California
Funding: SLAC/DOE Contract DE-AC02-76-SF00515
A state-of-the-art Machine Protection System for the SLAC Linac Coherent Light Source has been designed and built to shut off the beam within one pulse during 120 Hz operation to protect the facility from damage due to beam losses. Inputs from beam loss monitors, BPMs, toroids and position switches of insertable beam line devices are connected to a number of Link Node chassis placed along the beam line. Link Nodes are connected with a central Link Processor in a star topology on a dedicated gigabit Ethernet fiber network. The Link Processor, a Motorola MVME 6100, processes fault data at 360 Hz. After processing, rate limit commands are sent to mitigation devices at the injector and just upstream of the entrance of the sensitive undulator beam line. The beam's repetition rate is lowered according to the fault severity. The SLAC designed Link Nodes support up to 96 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs each. Analog signals are handled via standard IndustryPack (IP) cards placed on the Link Node motherboards with optional transition boards for signal conditioning. A database driven algorithm running on the Link Processor provides runtime loadable and swappable machine protection logic.
ZTEC Instruments, Albuquerque
ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
The EPICS Oscilloscopes have been evaluated to perform simultaneous real-time pass-fail monitoring of two or four waveforms. The EPICS oscilloscopes are remotely controlled and monitored via LAN. Operators can control and query all instrument functions and settings, and monitor captured waveforms via EPICS PVs, an EDM panel, or via a “virtual front panel” application running in Linux or Windows. Upper and lower waveform masks used for pass-fail testing are automatically generated by the oscilloscope from a captured “golden waveform”. A variable-width output pulse is generated upon every captured waveform that passes (falls within the masks) or fails (falls outside the masks), depending on the operator’s requirements. Real-time pass-fail monitoring has been demonstrated on the teststand for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) injection and extraction kicker waveforms occurring both at 60Hz and 120Hz. We believe that the same instruments will also support SNS’s future requirements for real-time monitoring of waveforms at 120Hz.