W. Watson

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System architecture: Past, present, and future

Abstract The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), has been used at a number of sites for performing data acquisition, supervisory control, closed-loop control, sequential control, and operational optimization. The EPICS architecture was originally developed by a group with diverse backgrounds in physics and industrial control. The current architecture represents one instance of the “standard model”. It provides distributed processing and communication from any local area network (LAN) device to the front end controllers. This paper presents the current architecture, performance envelope, current installations, and planned extensions for requirements not met by the current architecture.

The CEBAF accelerator control system: migrating from a TACL to an EPICS based system

Abstract CEBAF is in the process of migrating its accelerator and experimental hall control systems to one based upon EPICS, a control system toolkit developed by a collaboration among several DOE laboratories in the US. The new system design interfaces existing CAMAC hardware via a CAMAC serial highway to VME-based I/O controllers running the EPICS software; future additions and upgrades will for the most part go directly into VME. The decision to use EPICS followed difficulties in scaling the CEBAF-developed TACL system to full machine operation. TACL and EPICS share many design concepts, facilitating the conversion of software from one toolkit to the other. In particular, each supports graphical entry of algorithms built up from modular code, graphical displays with a display editor, and a client-server architecture with name-based I/O. During the migration, TACL and EPICS will interoperate through a socket-based I/O gateway. As part of a collaboration with other laboratories, CEBAF will add relational database support for system management and high level applications support. Initial experience with EPICS is presented, along with a plan for the full migration which is expected to be finished next year.

Operational Experience with the CEBAF Control System

The CEBAF accelerator at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) successfully began its experimental nuclear physics program in November of 1995 and has since surpassed predicted machine availability. Part of this success can be attributed to using the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) control system toolkit. The CEBAF control system is one of the largest accelerator control system now operating. It controls approximately 338 SRF cavities, 2,300 magnets, 500 beam position monitors and other accelerator devices, such as gun hardware and other beam monitoring devices. All told, the system must be able to access over 125,000 database records. The system has been well received by both operators and the hardware designers. The EPICS utilities have made the task of troubleshooting systems easier. The graphical and test-based creation tools have allowed operators to custom build control screens. In addition, the ability to integrate EPICS with other software packages, such as Tcl/Tk, has allowed physicists to quickly prototype high-level application programs, and to provide GUI front ends for command line driven tools. Specific examples of the control system applications are presented in the areas of energy and orbit control, cavity tuning and accelerator tune up diagnostics.

Linear optics correction in the CEBAF accelerator

During commissioning of the CEBAF accelerator, correcting dispersion, momentum compaction and betatron beam envelopes was essential for robust operation. To speed the diagnostic process we developed a method which allows one to track and correct the machine optics on-line. The method is based on measuring the propagation of 30 Hz modulated betatron oscillations. The beam optics of the accelerator was altered to decrease lattice sensitivity at critical points and to simplify control of the betatron function match. The calculation of the Courant-Snyder invariant from signals of each pair of beam position monitors was used for a correction of the betatron functions. The experience of optics correction and the study of long and short term machine reproducibility obtained during 1996 and early 1997 are also discussed. With minor modifications this method can also be used for on-line optics measurement and correction in circular accelerators.

Integrated on-line accelerator modeling at CEBAF

An on-line accelerator modeling facility is currently under development at CEBAF. The model server, which is integrated with the EPICS control system, provides coupled and 2nd-order matrices for the entire accelerator, and forms the foundation for automated model-based control and diagnostic applications. Four types of machine models are provided, including design, golden or certified, live, and scratch or simulated model. Provisions are also made for the use of multiple lattice modeling programs such as DIMAD, PARMELA, and TLIE. Design and implementation details are discussed.

Correction of dispersion and the betatron functions in the CEBAF accelerator

During the commissioning of the CEBAF accelerator, correction of dispersion and momentum compaction, and, to a lesser extent, transverse transfer matrices were essential for robust operation. With changing machine conditions, repeated correction was found necessary. To speed the diagnostic process the authors developed a method which allows one to rapidly track the machine optics. The method is based on measuring the propagation of 30 Hz modulated betatron oscillations downstream of a point of perturbation. Compared to the usual methods of dispersion or difference orbit measurement, synchronous detection of the beam displacement, as measured by beam position monitors, offers significantly improved speed and accuracy of the measurements. The beam optics of the accelerator was altered to decrease lattice sensitivity at critical points and to simplify control of the betatron function match. The calculation of the Courant-Snyder invariant from signals of each pair of nearby beam position monitors has allowed one to perform on-line measurement and correction of the lattice properties.

Development of digital feedback systems for beam position and energy at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

The development of beam-based digital feedback systems for the CEBAF accelerator has gone through several stages. As the accelerator moved from commissioning to operation for the nuclear physics program, the top priority was to stabilize the beam against slow energy and position drifts (<1 Hz). These slow drifts were corrected using the existing accelerator monitors and actuators driven by software running on top of the EPICS control system. With slow drifts corrected, attention turned to quantifying the higher frequency disturbances on the beam and to designing the required feedback systems needed to achieve the CEBAF design stability requirements. Results from measurements showed the major components in position and energy to be at harmonics of the power line frequencies of 60, 120, and 180 Hz. Hardware and software was installed in two locations of the accelerator as prototypes for the faster feedback systems needed. This paper gives an overview of the measured beam disturbances and the feedback systems developed.

Orbit correction using virtual monitors at Jefferson Lab

An orbit correction algorithm is developed to achieve the following goals for the CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson Lab.: (1) Preprocessing of orbit input to account for estimated misalignment and monitor errors. (2) Automatic elimination of blind spots caused by response matrix degeneracy. (3) Transparency of exception handling to interchangeable generic steering engines. (4) CEBAF-specific demands on control of injection angle, path length, orbit effects on optics, simultaneous multiple pass steering, and orbit control at un-monitored locations. All of the above can be accomplished by the introduction of virtual monitors into the processed input orbit, whose theoretical basis is to be discussed in this report. Implementation of all or part of these features and operational experience during the CEBAF variable energy runs are also be discussed.

A prototype fast feedback system for energy lock at CEBAF

The beam energy of CEBAF must be controlled accurately against phase and gradient fluctuations in RF cavities in order to achieve a 2.5/spl times/10/sup -5/ relative energy spread. A prototype fast feedback system based on the concepts of modern control theory has been implemented in the CEBAF control system to function as an energy lock. Measurements performed during the pulsed mode operations indicate presence of noise components at 4 Hz and 12 Hz on beam energy. This fast feedback prototype operates at 60 Hz rate and is integrated with EPICS. This paper describes the implementation of the fast feedback prototype, and operational experience with this system at CEBAF.

Evaluation of a server-client architecture for accelerator modeling and simulation

Traditional approaches to computational modeling and simulation often utilize a batch method for code execution using file-formatted input/output. This method of code implementation was generally chosen for several factors, including CPU throughput and availability, complexity of the required modeling problem, and presentation of computation results. With the advent of faster computer hardware and the advances in networking and software techniques, other program architectures for accelerator modeling have recently been employed. Jefferson Laboratory has implemented a client/server solution for accelerator beam transport modeling utilizing a query-based I/O. The goal of this code is to provide modeling information for control system applications and to serve as a computation engine for general modeling tasks, such as machine studies. This paper performs a comparison between the batch execution and server/client architectures, focusing on design and implementation issues, performance, and general utility towards accelerator modeling demands.