SPRING-8 BEAMLINE CONTROL-SYSTEM

The SPring-8 beamline control system is now taking part in the control of the insertion device (ID), front end, beam transportation channel and all interlock systems of the beamline: it will supply a highly sta ndardized environment of apparatus control for collaborative researche rs. In particular, ID operation is very important in a third-generatio n synchrotron light source facility. It is also very important to cons ider the security system because the ID is part of the storage ring an d is therefore governed by the synchrotron ring control system. The pr ogress of computer networking systems and the technology of security c ontrol require the development of a highly flexible control system. An interlock system that is independent of the control system has increa sed the reliability. For the beamline control system the so-called sta ndard model concept has been adopted. VME-bus (VME) is used as the fro nt-end control system and a UNIX workstation as the operator console. CPU boards of the VME-bus are RISC processor-based board computers ope rated by a LynxOS-based HP-RT real-time operating system. The workstat ion and the VME are linked to each other by a network, and form the di stributed system. The HP 9000/700 series with HP-UX and the HP 9000/74 3rt series with HP-RT are used. All the controllable apparatus may be operated from any workstation.