EPICS

Developer(s)| Free software community
Initial release| January 19, 1994 (1994-01-19)
Written in| C/C++, Perl
Operating system| Cross-platform
Type| Open Source
License| EPICS Open License
Website| epics-controls.org

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large scientific facilities. The tools are designed to help develop systems which often feature large numbers of networked computers delivering control and feedback. They also provide SCADA capabilities.[1]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Architecture
* 3 Facilities using EPICS
* 4 Commercial Users
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## History

EPICS was initially developed as the Ground Test Accelerator Controls System (GTACS) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1988 by Bob Dalesio, Jeff Hill, et al.[2] In 1989, Marty Kraimer from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) came to work alongside the GTA controls team for 6 months, bringing his experience from his work on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) Control System to the project. The resulting software was renamed EPICS and was presented at the International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems (ICALEPCS) in 1991.[1]

EPICS was originally available under a commercial license, with enhanced versions sold by Tate & Kinetic Systems. Licenses for collaborators were free, but required a legal agreement with LANL and APS. An EPICS community was established and development grew as more facilities joined in with the collaboration. In February 2004, EPICS became freely distributable after its release under the EPICS Open License.[3]

It is now used and developed by over 50 large science institutions worldwide, as well as by several commercial companies.

## Architecture

EPICS uses client–server and publish–subscribe techniques to communicate between computers. Servers, the “input/output controllers” (IOCs), collect experiment and control data in real time, using the measurement instruments attached to them. This information is then provided to clients, using the high-bandwidth Channel Access (CA)[4] or the recently added pvAccess[5][6] networking protocols that are designed to suit real-time applications such as scientific experiments.

IOCs hold and interact with a database of "records", which represent either devices or aspects of the devices to be controlled. IOCs can be hosted by stock-standard servers or PCs or by VME, MicroTCA, and other standard embedded system processors. For "hard real-time" applications the RTEMS or VxWorks operating systems are normally used, whereas "soft real-time" applications typically run on Linux or Microsoft Windows.

Data held in the records are represented by unique identifiers known as Process Variables (PVs). These PVs are accessible over the network channels provided by the `CA/pvAccess` protocol.

Many record types are available for various types of input and output (e.g., analog or binary) and to provide functional behaviour such as calculations. It is also possible to create custom record types. Each record consists of a set of fields, which hold the record's static and dynamic data and specify behaviour when various functions are requested locally or remotely. Most record types are listed in the EPICS record reference manual.[7]

Graphical user interface packages are available, allowing users to view and interact with PV data through typical display widgets such as dials and text boxes. Examples include EDM (Extensible Display Manager), MEDM (Motif/EDM), and CSS.

Any software that implements the `CA/pvAccess` protocol can read and write PV values. Extension packages are available to provide support for MATLAB, LabVIEW, Perl, Python, Tcl, ActiveX, etc. These can be used to write scripts to interact with EPICS-controlled equipment.

## Facilities using EPICS

List of Institutions using EPICS, by Region  Region  | Institute  | Country

|
|

Africa  | iThemba LABS[8] | South Africa
Asia  | KSTAR – Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research  | Republic of Korea
J-PARC – Joint Facility for High Intensity Proton Accelerators  | Japan
RIBF – RIKEN RI Beam Factory Project
KAGRA – Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector
SuperKEKB at KEK in Tskuba
BSRF - Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory[9] | China
VECC – Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre  | India
TIFR- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Europe  | Berliner Elektronenspeicherring für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY II) – Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin | Germany
Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY)
FHI free-electron laser (FEL) \- Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
GEO600 – Gravitational-wave observatory, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
GSI/FAIR
KArlsruhe Research Accelerator and FLUTE \- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
S-DALINAC – Technische Universität Darmstadt
Wendelstein 7-X – experimental stellarator, Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics
Diamond Light Source – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory | United Kingdom
ISIS Neutron Source \- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS)  | Sweden
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) | France
Spiral2 Système de Production d'Ions RadioActifs en Ligne de deuxième génération
Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro | Italy
Swiss Light Source – Paul Scherrer Institut  | Switzerland
SwissFEL – Paul Scherrer Institut  | Switzerland
Turkish Accelerator and Radiation LAboratory (TARLA)  | Turkey
Middle East  | Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME)  | Jordan
North America  | Advanced Light Source – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | United States
Advanced Photon Source – Argonne National Laboratory
Apache Point Observatory
FNAL – Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams – Michigan State University
Gemini Observatory
W. M. Keck Observatory
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)
Los Alamos Neutron Science Center – Los Alamos National Laboratory
National Spherical Torus Experiment – Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade – Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory – Michigan State University
National Synchrotron Light Source II – Brookhaven National Laboratory
Spallation Neutron Source – Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory – Stanford University
Linac Coherent Light Source – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
TJNAF – Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Canadian Light Source – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan  | Canada
Canadian Neutron Beam Centre – Chalk River Laboratories
TRIUMF – Located on the campus of the University of British Columbia
Not determined  | IFMIF – International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility | European Union

Japan

United States

Russia

Oceania  | Australian Synchrotron | Australia
ANTARES – Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) – CSIRO
Heavy Ion Accelerator at the Australian National University
South America  | LNLS – Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron | Brazil

## Commercial Users

* BiRa Systems
* Ciemat
* CosyLab
* GLResearch
* idt
* Mobiis
* Nusano, Inc
* Observatory Sciences
* Osprey Distributed Control Systems
* Varian Medical Systems
* Pyramid Technical Consultants

## See also

* TANGO control system
* SCADA—Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
* Karabo\- Karabo Control System

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "EPICS Architecture". https://epics.anl.gov/EpicsDocumentation/EpicsGeneral/EPICS_Architecture.pdf.
2. ↑ Kozubal, A. J.; Kerstiens, D. M.; Hill, J. O.; Dalesio, L. R. (1990). "Run-time environment and application tools for the ground test accelerator control system" (in en). Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 293 (1–2): 288–291. doi:10.1016/0168-9002(90)91446-I. Bibcode: 1990NIMPA.293..288K.
3. ↑ "EPICS Open License". https://epics-controls.org/epics-open-license/.
4. ↑ "EPICS R3.14 Channel Access Reference Manual". http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/base/R3-14/12-docs/CAref.html#port.
5. ↑ "pvAccess Protocol Specification". https://github.com/epics-base/pvAccessCPP/wiki/protocol.
6. ↑ "PVA Network Configuration". https://epics-base.github.io/pvxs/netconfig.html.
7. ↑ "RRM 3-14 - EPICSWIKI". https://wiki-ext.aps.anl.gov/epics/index.php/RRM_3-14.
8. ↑ iThemba LABS - South Africa
9. ↑ Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (BSRF)

## External links

* Official website
* Official documentation
* EPICS Record Reference Manual

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