EPICS

EPICS
Developer(s)	Free software community
Initial release	January 19, 1994
Stable release	3.15.8 / May 15, 2020; 4 years ago
Preview release	7.0.4.1 / August 14, 2020; 3 years ago
Written in	C/C++, Perl
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Open Source
License	EPICS Open License
Website	epics-controls.org

Short description: Software infrastructure for building distributed control systems

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.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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) or the recently added pvAccess 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.

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^[4]	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^[5]	China
	VECC – Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre	India
	TIFR- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research	India
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
	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	France
	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

References

↑ 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.
↑ "EPICS Architecture". https://epics.anl.gov/EpicsDocumentation/EpicsGeneral/EPICS_Architecture.pdf.
↑ "EPICS Open License". https://epics-controls.org/epics-open-license/.
↑ iThemba LABS - South Africa
↑ Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (BSRF)

External links

EPICS Record Reference Manual

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Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPICS. Read more

[1] 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.

[2] "EPICS Architecture". https://epics.anl.gov/EpicsDocumentation/EpicsGeneral/EPICS_Architecture.pdf.

[3] "EPICS Open License". https://epics-controls.org/epics-open-license/.

[4] Themba LABS - South Africa

[5] Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (BSRF)

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