Magnet power supply as a network object

Magnet power supplies with embedded microprocessor controls are being installed in the beam-lines of the linear accelerator and proton storage ring at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). Using an RS422 link they communicate with the accelerator control system through a terminal server connected to the site-wide DECnet backbone. Each supply is, for all intents and purposes, a network object. The controller has a command set of over seventy-five three-character ASCII control and readback instructions. Strategies for choosing the appropriate control protocol and the process of integrating these devices into a large accelerator control system are presented.<
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