Speaker
Description
The beam-loss monitoring system of the UNILAC heavy-ion linear accelerator is based on measuring the beam current at multiple locations along the beamline. Signals from beam–current transformers are amplified, converted into pulse trains and counted within a defined time window. The system has proven to be robust and operationally safe.
The ongoing upgrade aims to replace the current-to-frequency converters and the entire digital subsystem while preserving the established operational principle and the analog front-end. Most important reasons are aging of the electronics, the need for improved scalability, flexibility and safety, and last but not least, alignment with the new GSI/FAIR controls architecture.
The new system operates under the supervision of a System Control Unit (SCU), the standard front-end platform of the GSI/FAIR control system. It is controlled by the Front-End Software Architecture (FESA) and White Rabbit. Once configured, the FPGA-based hardware operates autonomously to ensure high reliability and fail-safe behaviour.
Here we describe the system architecture, its modular hardware, firmware architecture and the software interface.
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