A.S. Duarte

Integrated data acquisition, storage, retrieval and processing using the COMPASS DataBase (CDB)

Abstract We present a complex data handling system for the COMPASS tokamak, operated by IPP ASCR Prague, Czech Republic [1] . The system, called CDB (COMPASS DataBase), integrates different data sources as an assortment of data acquisition hardware and software from different vendors is used. Based on widely available open source technologies wherever possible, CDB is vendor and platform independent and it can be easily scaled and distributed. The data is directly stored and retrieved using a standard NAS (Network Attached Storage), hence independent of the particular technology; the description of the data (the metadata) is recorded in a relational database. Database structure is general and enables the inclusion of multi-dimensional data signals in multiple revisions (no data is overwritten). This design is inherently distributed as the work is off-loaded to the clients. Both NAS and database can be implemented and optimized for fast local access as well as secure remote access. CDB is implemented in Python language; bindings for Java, C/C++, IDL and Matlab are provided. Independent data acquisitions systems as well as nodes managed by FireSignal [2] are all integrated using CDB. An automated data post-processing server is a part of CDB. Based on dependency rules, the server executes, in parallel if possible, prescribed post-processing tasks.

EFDA‐fed: European federation among fusion energy research laboratories

Purpose – The fusion energy research in Europe is developed by a set of laboratories of different countries and organisations. EFDA is an organisation whose main objective is to promote and improve the coordination and collaboration among these laboratories. This paper sets out to describe a working federation (EFDA‐Fed) that gathers EFDA (as organisation) and a set of fusion research laboratories: EURATOM/CIEMAT (Spain), CEA (France), JET (UK), IST (Portugal) and KFKI/HAS (Hungary).Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the objective a federation among all the organisations has been implemented based on PAPI as the authentication and authorization infrastructure that provides a security layer for accessing data among organisations.Findings – During the implementation of EFDA federation some improvements in distributed single sign on systems have been achieved such as the integration of JAVA applications and a single sign off mechanism.Practical implications – Users who belong to one of the federated or...

A generic communication protocol for remote laboratories: An implementation on e-lab

The remote laboratories at IST (Instituto Superior Técnico), e-lab, serve as a valuable tool for education and training based on remote control technologies. Due to the high number and increase of remotely operated experiments a generic protocol was developed to perform the communication between the software driver and the respective experimental setup in an easier and more unified way. The training in these fields of students and personnel can take advantage of such infrastructure with the purpose of deploying new experiments in a faster way. More than 10 experiments using the generic protocol are available on-line in a 24×7 way.

E-lab remote laboratory integrated overview

e-lab is a remote laboratory infrastructure, powered by a specific software framework, that allows to perform experiments and retrieve data from a remote apparatus. The deployment of new experiments on this platform is a complex and demanding process and an integrated overview for it is missing. An overview of e-labs specifications is presented taking into account software development requirements for the deployment of new experimental apparatus and possible improvements.

ITER prototype fast plant system controller based on ATCA platform

The ITER Fast Plant System Controllers (FPSC) are based on embedded technologies and will be devoted to both data acquisition tasks (sampling rates >1 kSPS) and control purposes in closed-control loops whose cycle times are below 1 ms. Fast Controllers will be dedicated industrial controllers with the ability to: i) supervise other fast and/or slow controllers; ii) interface to actuators and sensors and high performance networks. This contribution presents an FPSC prototype, specialized for data acquisition, based on the ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) standard. This prototyping activity contributes to the ITER Plant Control Design Handbook (PCDH) effort of standardization, specifically regarding fast controller characteristics. For the prototype, IPFN is developing a new family of ATCA modules targeting ITER requirements. The modules comprise an AMC carrier/data hub/timing hub compliant with the upcoming ATCA extensions for Physics and a multi-channel with galvanic isolation hot-swappable digitizer designed for serviceability. The design and test of a peer-to-peer communications layer for the implementation of a reflective memory over PCI Express and the design and test of an IEEE-1588 transport layer over a high performance serial link was also performed. In this work, a complete description of the solution is presented as well as the integration of the controller into the standard CODAC environment. The most relevant results of real tests will be addressed, focusing in the benefits and limitations of the applied technologies.

Integration of EPICS subsystem control on FireSignal

This paper presents a slow control system based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and FireSignal technology for fusion devices, that is being developed for ISTTOK and COMPASS tokamaks. In this approach, the machine sub-systems control is based in micro-controllers. These sub-systems can handle automatically the necessary procedures before, during and after a plasma discharge, including safety protocols. An EPICS based supervisory control software then integrates all machine subsystems for central monitoring, configuration, logging and alarm management. Instead of the usual EPICS MEDM client tools, remote monitoring and configuration is accomplished by means of a specifically developed Java application using the CAJ library for EPICS and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). This application behaves also as FireSignal Client, allowing the subsystems to be completely integrated on a FireSignal-based CODAC with all Process Variables (PV) and relevant control events being recorded in the central database. Through the FireSignal operator console, the so called FS User Client, it is possible to present a dedicated GUI for each subsystem, thus providing the machine operator a complete overview of the state of the machine and full control capabilities.

Real-Time Vertical Plasma Position Control Using the Heavy Ion Beam Diagnostic

A future thermonuclear fusion reactor relies on the real-time control of, among others, instabilities and plasma position. At the ISTTOK tokamak, a novel approach of a real-time diagnostic system to control the vertical plasma position (in a 100-

ITER fast plant system controller prototype based on ATCA platform

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An ATCA Embedded Data Acquisition and Control System for the Compass tokamak

closed-loop) was implemented by: 1) developing the heavy ion beam diagnostic (HIBD) to perform the position measurement and 2) combining data processing on a field-programmable gate array and Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor software framework. The results of this implementation have demonstrated the successful control of the plasma position using the HIBD. It was proven that the HIBD can be used to measure the ISTTOK vertical plasma position and to provide feedback in real time. In this paper, the overall implementation and integration is described and the experimental results are presented.