Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation, LHC Excluded Purpose and Scope M.Vanden Eynden on behalf of the AB/CO Group

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop2 Agenda Purpose –Outline of the main technical and organizational motivations Scope – Outline of the technical work packages Summary

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop3 Agenda Purpose –Outline of the main technical and organizational motivations Scope – Outline of the technical work packages Summary

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop4 Purpose Organizational –The benefits of the co-operative LHC model –Time to end the PS Complex legacy situation –AD, CTF, REX ISOLDE Technical –Critical Front-end Hardware and Software situation –Application Software rationalisation

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop5 Purpose Organizational –The benefits of the co-operative LHC model –Time to end the PS Complex legacy situation –AD, CTF, REX ISOLDE Technical –Critical Front-end Hardware and Software situation –Application Software rationalisation

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop6 Purpose - Organizational The benefits of the co-operative LHC model –The organizational model used for the construction of the LHC control system is recognized as a solid basis in terms of: Budget, Planning, Field coordination, Responsibilities –The control system was built on the basis of agreements (CO3) and better balanced sharing of responsibilities between the EQ.Groups and CO CO provides core controls hardware reference platforms and modules CO provides core software frameworks (FESA) Eq.Groups develop their systems with these building blocks Eq.Groups have a first-line responsibility for their Front-ends, in particular for the software and its evolution –The exploitation responsibilities are clear, decisions and evolutions are made in common (CO3)

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop7 Purpose - Organizational Time to end the PS complex legacy situation –The PS Complex (1/2) The PS Complex control system was designed and operated under the responsibility of the “PS-CO” group The emergence of LHC brought another magnitude of controls complexity and diversity, making the PS-CO approach not applicable in the future The remaining number of PS-CO engineers in a position to fix or improve the current control system runs under the critical mass (loss of competence) Responsibilities for a number of systems is unclear

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop8 Purpose - Organizational Time to end the PS complex legacy situation –The PS Complex (2/2) Recent renovation of the application software layer highlighted severe shortcomings at the front-end level CO presents today a vision for renovation but a global strategy approved by all parties (EQ.Groups, OP, CO) is mandatory Current Budget evaluations for the PS controls infrastructure is difficult without this strategy Using the LHC co-operative model would improve the situation

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop9 Purpose - Organizational AD, CTF, REX ISOLDE Lots of unsupported technical solutions (external collaborations) Partially renovated but with PS-CO legacy solutions –same technical problems problems as for the PS complex –Same “centric” role of CO, as opposed to the LHC model Evolution on a “day-by-day” basis, making hardware procurement, software support and responsibilities unclear Declared as “lower priority” but in reality require a very high support effort from AB-CO The future evolution is only possible through a close collaboration and involvement of the EQ.Groups and CO Here again, using the LHC co-operative model would improve the situation

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop10 Purpose Organizational –The benefits of the co-operative LHC model –Time to end the PS Complex legacy situation –The case of AD, CTF, REX ISOLDE Technical –Critical Front-end Hardware and Software situation –Application Software rationalisation

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop11 Purpose - Technical Critical Front-end Hardware and Software Situation –Most of the low level control system Hardware infrastructure, in particular the front-end VMEBus processors and crates are running out of date: No commercial support, no possible evolutions, performance problems –Already some major impact on operations –Severe difficulties to deploy the LHC front-end software solutions (FESA) –Impossible to evolve the application software layer without a consistent renovation plan for the front-end part –New front-end platforms, including more “cost-effective” ones, are proposed by CO –Large Contracts have been prepared, approved by CERN Finance Committee and signed with European manufacturers (IT 3527 and IT 3557) –Orders for VMEBus processors should be placed in the coming weeks, as no new installations nor upgrades are possible anymore (only LHC spares available) More Details during the talk on « Front-End Hardware » by N.de Metz-Noblat

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop12 Purpose - Technical Critical Front-end Hardware and Software Situation –Most of the Front-End software (GM classes) is under “corrective maintenance” support ONLY by AB-CO –GM is abandoned and FESA has emerged, thanks to a very close collaboration with the Eq.Groups, as the unique RT software framework that will be supported –Full re-engineering of about 125 GM classes is out of reach by AB-CO only –A clear evaluation of the situation will be presented during this workshop More Details during the talk on « Front-End Software » by C.H.Sicard

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop13 Purpose - Technical Application Software Rationalisation –Reduce duplication of efforts Homogenise solutions accross Accelerators Reduce number of specific applications –Reduce maintenance cost Suppress Legacy PS applications –Improve performance Tackle performance, scalability and reliability problems experienced on PS complex More Details during the talk on « InCA » by S.Deghaye

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop14 Agenda Purpose –Outline of the main technical and organizational motivations Scope – Outline of the work packages Summary

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop15 Scope - Work Packages DOMAINResponsibility Material Budget Human Resources Front-End Hardware Platforms and Form Factors AB/CO++++ Generic Front-End Hardware Modules AB/CO++ FESA FrameworkAB/CON/A++ Front-End software (+ specific Hardware) ATB, BI, BT, CO, PO, RF,… ++++ InCA AB/CO AB/OP N/A++ Specific High Level ApplicationsAB/OPN/A++

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop16 Scope - Work Packages The aim of this workshop is to provide, for each work package: –General Description –Proposed Time Table (synchronized) –Material Budget –Resources

December 3rd, 2008M.Vanden Eynden - Accelerator Complex Controls Renovation Workshop17 Summary A solid co-operative model for developing Accelerator controls has been applied with success to the LHC and should be generalized to all machines The control system of the PS complex and other machines (AD, REX ISOLDE, CTF) requires urgent renovation from the technical perspective, as well as from the organizational point of view As it will take several years of efforts, a decision is needed rather soon Orders for VMEBus processors are urgent (IT-3527) AB-CO proposes a vision with estimates but a global strategy and organization must be defined with the support of the management