29th Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2016)

P3.066 Real-Time data acquisition Prototype proposal of the ITER radial neutron camera and gamma-ray spectrometer

7 Sep 2016, 11:00

1h 20m

Foyer 2A (2nd floor), 3A (3rd floor) (Prague Congress Centre)

Board: 66

Poster D. Diagnostics, Data Acquisition and Remote Participation P3 Poster session

Speaker

Rita C. Pereira (Instituto Superior Técnio)

Description

The Radial Neutron Camera (RNC) and the Radial Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (RGRS) are two ITER diagnostics, devoted, respectively, to the real-time measurement of the neutron emissivity profile (to be used for plasma control purposes) and to the measurement of the confined alpha profile and runaway electrons. The two systems are closely related as they share the same equatorial port plug and part of the lines of sight and both require the acquisition of event-based signals from radiation detectors. The RNC Data Acquisition and Processing (DAQP) system should be capable of handling peak count rates of the order of 10⁶6 counts/s for a time duration up to 500 s. In order to identify and study critical issues, a DAQP prototype will be developed based on an Evaluation Board from Xilinx featuring a ×8 PCIe Gen3 interfaceand an Input/Output expansion connector which allows the insertion of a FPGA Mezzanine Card with 2 input channels of 12-bit sampling at 1.6GHz. The system is based on a computer capable of hosting 2×8 PCIe evaluation boards with 4 input channels allowing a data throughput bandwidth of up to 16GB/s from the digitizers to the host. The design activities for the DAQP of the RGRS diagnostic are limited to the proposal of a conceptual design interfacing correctly with the RNC, thus excluding any prototyping. As the two diagnostics have similar features in the long term, the RGRS DAQP design will benefit from the results of the RNC prototype tests. This paper will: a) present the RNC DAQP prototype showing its compliancy with the RNC plant system Fast Controller; b) show the scalability of the actual RNC DAQP from the prototype concept; c) describe the RGRS DAQP system and its interface to the ITER CODAC; d) identify the differences between the RNC and RGRS DAQP needs.