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Published: 1991

Total Pages: 6

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The Advanced Photon Source (APS), now under construction at Argonne National Laboratory is a 7 GeV positron storage ring dedicated to research facilities using synchrotron radiation. This ring, along with its injection accelerators is to be controlled and monitored with a single, flexible, and expandable control system. In the conceptual stage the control system design group faced the challenges that face all control system designers: to force the machine designers to quantify and codify the system requirements, to protect the investment in hardware and software from rapid obsolescence, and to find methods of quickly incorporating new generations of equipment and replace of obsolete equipment without disrupting the exiting system. To solve these and related problems, the APS control system group made an early resolution to use standards in the design of the system. This paper will cover the present status of the APS control system as well as discuss the design decisions which led us to use industrial standards and collaborations with other laboratories whenever possible to develop a control system. It will explain the APS control system and illustrate how the use of standards has allowed APS to design a control system whose implementation addresses these issues. The system will use high performance graphic workstations using an X-Windows Graphical User Interface at the operator interface level. It connects to VME-based microprocessors at the field level using TCP/IP protocols over high performance networks. This strategy assures the flexibility and expansibility of the control system. A defined interface between the system components will allow the system to evolve with the direct addition of future, improved equipment and new capabilities.