DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION SERVICES FOR CONTROL SYSTEMS

During the design and construction of an experimental physics facility (EPF), a heterogeneous set of engineering disciplines, methods, and tools is used, making subsequent exploitation of data difficult. In this paper, we describe a framework (DISCS) for building high-level applications for commissioning, operation, and maintenance of an EPF that provides programmatic as well as graphical interfaces to its data and services. DISCS is a collaborative effort of BNL, FRIB, Cosylab, IHEP, and ESS. It is comprised of a set of cooperating services and applications, and manages data such as machine configuration, lattice, measurements, alignment, cables, machine state, inventory, operations, calibration, and design parameters. The services/applications include Channel Finder, Logbook, Traveler, Unit Conversion, Online Model, and Save-Restore. Each component of the system has a database, an Application Programming Interface (API), and a set of applications. The services are accessed through REST and EPICS V4. We also discuss the challenges to developing software in an environment where requirements continue to evolve and developers are distributed among different laboratories with different technology platforms.