ATCA-Based Hardware for Control and Data Acquisition on Nuclear Fusion Fast Control Plant Systems

Correia, Miguel; Sousa, J.; Rodrigues, A.P.; Batista, A.J.N.; Gonçalves, B.; Varandas, C.A.F.; Correia, Carlos

doi:10.1109/tns.2011.2158111

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…As so, the remote update method was also tested in the Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC-MKX1) prototype module [12], installed on the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 carrier module from ITER Fast Plant System Controller catalogue [13], [14]. The AMC-MKX1 module was specially conceived for real-time spectroscopy applications expecting to deliver and process data at a rate of up to 100 GB/s.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

FPGA Remote Update for Nuclear Environments

Fernandes

Pereira

Sousa

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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Abstract-In recent years there has been a growing interest to use reconfigurable modules, based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices, in nuclear environments. One of the requirements for these types of modules, when operating in complex future nuclear power experiments, is their remote update capability. The operational needs of pulsed fusion reactors will lead to a large production of very high energy neutrons (MeV range). The current procurement policies for nuclear installations do not allow exposure of electronics to radiation, except following very strict rules. However, considering the "as low as (is) reasonably achievable" (ALARA) principle with respect to human exposure to radiation, the access to cubicles might be restricted, requiring the remote update of FPGA codes.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

FPGA Remote Update for Nuclear Environments

Fernandes

Pereira

Sousa

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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“…Moreover, it can be considered a safety solution once the initial FPGA code is never deleted during the update process. FPGA is preferably [9] installed on the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 carrier module from ITER Fast Plant System Controller catalogue [5], [10]. The ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 is connected to a RTM module with PCIe external cable interface for connection to the host PC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

FPGA remote update for nuclear environments

Fernandes¹,

Pereira²,

Sousa³

et al. 2015

2015 4th International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and Their Applications (ANIMMA

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The Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear (IPFN) has developed dedicated reconfigurable modules based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices for several nuclear fusion machines worldwide. Moreover, new Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture (ATCA) based modules developed by IPFN are already included in the ITER fast plant Instrumentation & Control products catalogue. One of the requirements for reconfigurable modules operating in future nuclear environments including ITER is the remote update capability. Accordingly, this work presents an alternative method for FPGA remote programming to be implemented in new ATCA based reconfigurable modules. FPGAs are volatile devices and their programming code is usually stored in dedicated flash memories for properly configuration during module power-on. The presented method is capable to store new FPGA codes in Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memories using the PCIexpress (PCIe) network established on the ATCA backplane, linking data acquisition endpoints and the data switch blades. The method is based on the Xilinx Quick Boot application note, adapted to PCIe protocol and ATCA based modules.

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“…The shelf backplane provides several network topologies with possible redundancy schemes to be configured on the specified ATCA interfaces [6]. Logical slot numbers 1 and 2 are hub-dedicated slots, while the remaining (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) are node slots.…”

Section: Canddaq Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current application uses digitizing units ATCA-IO-PROCESSOR [7] on slots 3 and 5 and a PCI express (PCIe) and timing switch ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 [8] which handles the digitizers' data and timing signals. These in-house developed hardware components belong to the "ITER Catalogue of I&C Products" [9].…”

Section: Canddaq Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precision Time Protocol support hardware for ATCA control and data acquisition system

Correia

Sousa

Carvalho

et al. 2015

Fusion Engineering and Design

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h i g h l i g h t s• ATCA based control and data acquisition subsystem has been developed at IPFN.• PTP and time stamping were implemented with VHDL and PTP daemon (PTPd) codes.• The RTM (. . .) provides PTP synchronization with an external GMC.• The main advantage is that timestamps are generated closer to the Physical Layer at the GMII.• IPFN's upgrade consistently exhibited jitter values below 25 ns RMS. a r t i c l e i n f o . The TCN infrastructure was tested for an RMS jitter under the limit of 50 ns. Therefore, IPFN's hardware, namely the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 hub-module, which is in charge of timing and synchronization distribution for all subsystem endpoints, shall also perform within this jitter limit. This paper describes a relevant upgrade, applied to the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 hardware, to comply with these requirements -in particular, the integration of an add-on module "RMC-TMG-1588" on its Rear Transition Module (RTM). This add-on is based on a commercial FPGA-based module from Trenz Electronic, using the ZHAW "PTP VHDL code for timestamping unit and clock", which features clock offset and drift correction and hardware-assisted time stamping. The main advantage is that timestamps are generated closer to the Physical Layer, at the Gigabit Ethernet Media Independent Interface (GMII), avoiding the timing uncertainties accumulated through the upper layers. PTP code and user software run in a MicroBlaze TM soft-core CPU with Linux in the same FPGA, adding programmability and quick implementation of the desired features and upgrades. The paper briefly presents an overview of the ATCA C&DAQ, presenting the PTP and time stamping solution and how it was hardware-implemented, resulting in the RMC-TMG-1588 module. Finally it will describe the synchronization performance tests and results obtained at ITER site as well as indicating further developments to the system, in order to fulfil ITER's requirements.

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ATCA-Based Hardware for Control and Data Acquisition on Nuclear Fusion Fast Control Plant Systems

Cited by 18 publications

References 5 publications

FPGA Remote Update for Nuclear Environments

FPGA Remote Update for Nuclear Environments

FPGA remote update for nuclear environments

Precision Time Protocol support hardware for ATCA control and data acquisition system

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