1. Requirements for ITER CODAC
Franck Di Maio
CODAC & IT
CHD Department

2. Outline Introduction: PSH & Mini-CODAC R&D Tasks The EPICS Decision
Plans
Self-Description
Architecture & tools
Conclusion

3. Introduction
ITER I&C Architecture

4. CODAC Architecture Introduction Operator Software
Central CODAC Systems
Plasma Control
Operator
Software
Synchronous Data
Middleware
Plant System Host
Fast Controller
PLC

5. Plant System Host (PSH)
Introduction
CODAC Architecture
Plant System Host (PSH)
Is integrated in the Plant System Instrumentation & Control (I&C).
Provides a single point of entry for communication between the CODAC Systems and the plant system’s local controllers.
Is in charge of:
configuration management,
command dispatching,
state monitoring,
alarms and logs interfacing,
data flow and events dispatching.
Is supplied by ITER IO
Central CODAC Systems
Plasma Control
Operator
Software
Synchronous Data
Middleware
Plant System Host
Fast Controller
PLC

6. CODAC Architecture Introduction Before Integration Mini-CODAC
Implements a sub-set of the CODAC systems functions.
Provides a SCADA environment for the development
Configuration Management
Local supervision
Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Alarms, logs, data handling…
Is a tool for acceptance tests at factory and on site
Before Integration
Mini-CODAC
Synchronous Data
Middleware
Plant System Host
Fast Controller
PLC

7. Outline Introduction R&D Tasks The EPICS Decision Plans
Self-Description
Architecture & tools
Conclusion

8. Data Exchange Modeling Task
R&D Tasks
Data Exchange Modeling Task
“MODEX”
Model of the Generic Plant Interface (GPI)
interactions between CODAC and Plant Systems
Prototype
Engineering model developed using SysML
Prototype built and demonstrated
Task Agreement with ITER-IN

9. R&D Tasks
SCADA Survey
Market Survey + evaluation of selected products against ITER Requirements.
The open source products, EPICS & TANGO, are the ones that match the ITER requirements at best.
TANGO relies on recent technology.
EPICS benefits from a large community and a strong support.
iFIX
Contract with ATOS Origin

10. Communication Technologies Survey
R&D Tasks
Communication Technologies Survey
Evaluation of selected communication technologies against some specific user-cases.
Channel Access and CORBA have limits but replacement or complement isn’t justified now.
It is recommended to use an API that abstract the implementation.
Channel Access
CORBA
DDS
ICE
TAO, OmniORB
RTI
ZeroC
Channel Access Limits
No built-in commands invocation
OK for a model with simple commands.
Performances OK, except for large data
New version or dedicated data-stream services
Scalability is limited
Multi-layers architecture
Contract with Cosylab 10 10

11. PSH Prototype R&D Tasks Objectives:
On site evaluation of EPICS and Tango
Pre-engineering of CODAC concepts
Use cases:
Direct control of the I/O channels of a PLC.
Integration of another type of PLC simulating the control of a plant system.
Implemented on both EPICS and TANGO.
Contract with Alceli Hunt Beratung

12. Prototype Architecture
R&D Tasks
Prototype Architecture
EPICS
TANGO
Mini-CODAC 1
Mini-CODAC 2
MEDM, Striptool
Python/Java/C/C++
Jdraw, atkmoni
Python/Java/C/C++
Ethernet NW (PON)
S7 IOC,
CPS IOC,
Modbus IOC,
S7 DS,
CPS DS, Modbus DS,
Simple case DS
PSH 1
PSH 2
Ethernet NW (PS LAN)
S7 / TCP
Modbus / TCP
Power Supply Simulation
(complex case)
Siemens
S7/300
Yokogawa
Stardom FCJ
I/O interface
(simple case)

13. Prototyping Results R&D Tasks The 2 use cases have been implemented.
Both EPICS and Tango are acceptable base for implementing the functions and the CODAC concepts.
PSH
Slow
Controller

14. The EPICS Decision
It is a necessity for ITER to standardize the Plant System’s controller software at the very beginning. Currently: 161 plant systems with FAT starting in 2012.
Feb-09: EPICS will be used as the baseline for the software environment for the ITER control system
Plant Control Design Handbook, vs. 4.1, 06-May-2009:
The software infrastructure for PSH and Mini-CODAC is EPICS version R
[R111] EPICS version R shall be used for PS fast controllers.
[R112] Communication between PS fast controllers and PSH shall use EPICS Channel Access.
[R113] The Operating System of the PS fast controllers shall be Linux (version [TBD]). Deviations may be considered by IO for difficult real-time cases.
… and PLC are Siemens Simatic S7 (same document)

15. Outline Introduction R&D Tasks The EPICS Decision Plans
Self-Description
Architecture & tools
Conclusion

16. Core Systems Plans Core functions:
Communications
“SCADA” functions:
HMI
Alarm Handling
Error & trace logging
Parameters monitoring
Plant system supervision
Data Archiving
Testing
Configuration management (self-description)
To be implemented by packaged CODAC core systems
Built and distributed in an incremental manner.
One major release / year (1st quarter)
Starting from 2010
According to the Mini-CODAC architecture for now.

17. Roadmap Plans Vs 1 2010/Q1 Preliminary Release Vs 2 2011/Q1
Stable release for developers
Vs 3
2012/Q1
Stable release for FAT
Priorities:
Integrate PLCs (Siemens S7)
Develop configuration management (self-description)
Freeze the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
Integrate fast controllers (EPICS IOC)

18. Resources Plans IO staff estimation: 4-6 ppy (2009-2012)
Task Agreement with ITER-IN (3 years, from 2009/Q3) on PSH and Prototype Mini-CODAC
Support contract (3 years, from 2009/Q4) for EPICS, QA & user support.
New contracts in 2010
Surveys and collaborations
EPICS Tools survey (June 2009)
Task Agreement with ITER-KO on EPICS for Tokamak (August 2009)

19. Outline Introduction R&D Tasks The EPICS Decision Plans
Self-Description (Denis Stepanov)
Architecture & tools
Conclusion

20. Plant System Self-Description
… is a concept of providing all the necessary information about Plant Systems along with the Plant Systems themselves. The ultimate goal is to make both Plant Systems I&C and CODAC software system-neutral, decreasing the hard-coded programming part of the system specificity and increasing the data configuration part.
… represents static configuration data not changing during the Plant System operation. It can be modified through dedicated maintenance procedures.
… forms a part of software interface between the Plant Systems I&C and Central I&C Systems.
… shall capture all “hidden knowledge” of Plant System configuration, at least in the form of documentation.
… is expressed in XML constrained by a well-defined W3C XML Schema (XSD).
… has to be introduced and actively supported by the software from the very beginning to avoid being a huge set of inconsistent, unreliable, poorly maintained data.

21. Self-Description Scope
The Self-Description Data consist of:
Plant System I&C unique identification;
Command list;
Alarms list;
Set-points list;
Plant System I&C Operating Limits and Conditions;
Physical (raw) signals list (I/O);
Processed / converted signals list;
Data streams list;
Logging messages list;
Definition of the Plant System I&C state machine in accordance with the defined Plant System operating states;
Definitions of Plant System I&C HMI;
Initial values for run-time configuration used for Plant System I&C start-up;
Identification of source codes and binary packages of the Plant System I&C specific software;
Documentation.
(as stated in the Plant Control Design Handbook v 4.1, May 2009)

22. Device descriptions for EPICS and TANGO in XML
(mapping of EPICS text templates and substitution lists)
TANGO
(mapping of TANGO’s MySQL database)

23. Self-description dataflow: operation
PS parameters 2
PS response 7
PS data 6
PS dynamic parameters 3
PSH static configuration 1
PS data 5
PS devices dynamic parameters 4

24. Self-description dataflow: development
CODAC test data 12
PS development progress 12
PS requirements and needs 12
PCDH deliverables 11
Problem report 10
PS parameters 4
PS description 1
PS response 9
PS data 8
PS dynamic parameters 5
PSH static configuration 2
Devel tools’ project files 2
Program development 3
PS data 7
PS devices dynamic parameters 6
PS devices programs + static configuration 3

25. Outline Introduction R&D Tasks The EPICS Decision Plans
Self-Description
Architecture & tools
Conclusion

26. Core Systems, Mini-CODAC Architecture
CODAC Systems:
Alarm Handling (AH)
Error & Trace Logging (EL)
Live Database/Monitoring (LD)
Data Archiving (DA)
Data Retrieval (DR)
Testing Tools (TT)
Communication Middleware (CM)
Generic Plant System Software (PS)
Visualization / HMI Builder (VB)
Plant System self description (SD)

27. Pure EPICS Architecture
Configuration
Data Archiver
Select the best EPICS mature tools to cover the core functions
Benefit:
Stable
Widely used (support)
Limits:
Not fully consistent
Migration to new ITER adapted tools.
The 2010 version:
EPICS tools
A 1st version of the self-description system
S7 PLC integration
Synoptics
Errors/trace Logging
Alarms

28. The Eclipse Mini-CODAC Alternative
Use the Eclipse technology for Mini-CODAC
a consistent environment integrating the different functions.
Join the CSS club for adopting/improving and developing new tools.
Considered for future releases (> 1).
Use Eclipse RCP for Mini-CODAC

29. Vs 1 Architecture (pure EPICS)
EPICS components:
VDCT
SNL and Sequencer
EDM
autoSave
ALH
Channel Archive/Retrieval
Channel Access Gateway
IocLogServer
Wireshark-CACasnooper
CAJ
CoThread
S7PLC driver

30. Conclusion - Main Requirements
2012: start of FAT
2015: start of integration
2018: first plasma DA IO
Ind
Lab
Specific constraints
The ITER schedule
The ITER procurement model
The ITER size (~200 systems)
Main requirements:
A very good EPICS Base for many years (procurement: 10+)
Prescribed as a standard for all plant systems controllers, from R
Plant System Host with high reliability and high performance
The critical interface between IOCs and central systems
Key components: CA gateway, S7 driver, RIOC (Linux, ATCA?)
Implementation of the self-description concept
A “prescriptive” management system for the plan systems
With special requirements (XML, deliverable)
New tools for central services and HMI
CSS tools? To be evaluated for Vs 2 or 3
A stable API for the high-level applications
Required for the design of ITER-specific applications (ex: scheduling system).