Next generation discharge control system for ASDEX upgrade

Based on present achievements in tokamak control and considering requiremen ts for reactor-oriented research, a next generation discharge control syste m is presented. Decomposition of control functions mapped onto dedicated co ntrollers and diagnostics gives a distributed system integrated with a comm on real-time network to publish process and reference values. Basic mechani sms for cycle administration, data exchange and process management of the p rototype system currently being implemented are shown. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience S.A. All rights reserved.