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News Releases Max-Planck-Institute Selects Real-Time Publish-Subscribe Middleware for Plasma ControlReal-Time Innovations® NDDS® middleware enables fast, robust communications between real-time controllers SUNNYVALE, Calif. - 16 April, 2002 - Real-Time Innovations (RTI) The Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) announced today that it has selected the NDDS middleware from Real-Time Innovations to handle controller communications in the next generation real-time control system of the Tokamak nuclear fusion device ASDEX Upgrade. The Institute's pioneering distributed Tokamak control system is getting a thorough upgrade to meet growing research demands and to advance to critical operation regimes. "The new control system design requires fast, efficient communications between real-time controllers and the experiment management system," stated Dr. Gerhard Raupp, head of the control group at the IPP. "NDDS provided the performance we needed, simplified the network programming, and let us mix the real-time and workstation platforms freely." The new design features off-the-shelf controllers running the VxWorksT real-time operating system interconnected via distributed shared memory with each other and via Ethernet with Solaris-based management stations to control the magneto-hydrodynamic activities in the Tokomak. Middleware was a key component of the new design. The network communications among controllers and management workstations is very complex. Low-latency communication is required to perform critical, plasma-control adjustments, and component failures must be accommodated in real-time. IPP designed comprehensive middleware tests and evaluated a number of products. They selected NDDS because it met their run-time performance objectives, it had a rich, intuitive programming interface, and it was available for all their target platforms. Tokamak Control System Upgrade The Max-Planck-Institute selected NDDS as a part of their Tokamak control system upgrade. The institute's Tokamak, ASDEX Upgrade, has been in operation for over 10 years. It is a nuclear fusion device that uses ionized gas (plasma) to generate energy. To fuse the atomic nuclei, extremely high temperatures and good plasma confinement are required. Loss of control during operation can result in disruptions of the plasma, within milliseconds unleashing Mega-Joules of energy that can severely damage the Tokamak. Network communication among the real-time controllers is used to control the experiment and maintain the "magnetic cage" that confines the plasma. The communications are quite complex, including one-to-many messaging with very short deadlines for signals, and reliable communications among multiples nodes for state changes and alarms. NDDS Middleware and WaveWorks® Tools NDDS is publish-subscribe network middleware designed specifically for distributed, real-time applications. It uses the standard UDP interface provided by the operating system vendor to distribute data. The publish-subscribe application programming model eliminates network programming and is easy to learn. In addition to NDDS, Real-Time Innovations provides powerful distributed system development tools. WaveScope® provides a real-time view into NDDS operation to optimize application performance. WaveSurfT provides a global view of the networked objects so problems can be located and fixed during system operation. For more information on NDDS and the WaveWorks family of products, go to www.rti.com. For more information about the IPP, go to www.ipp.mpg.de Real-Time Innovations, Inc. Real-Time Innovations, Inc. (RTI) is a leading provider of software tools, middleware, and professional services for the real-time software and distributed control markets. For over 10 years, RTI has been helping embedded system developers produce higher quality, more reliable solutions with the ScopeTools, WaveWorks, and ControlShell® product lines. The ScopeTools are the most popular tools purchased by VxWorks users for application analysis and debug. The WaveWorks middleware and tools provide seamless communications and real-time management for distributed applications. The ControlShell application development environment lets developers build repositories of reusable modules and use graphics to assemble complex systems quickly and easily. Together with our customers, Real-Time Innovations is 'Shaping the Future of Real Time®.' NDDS, WaveWorks, ControlShell, StethoScope, Real-Time Innovations, and Shaping the Future of Real Time are registered trademarks and ScopeTools is a trademark of Real-Time Innovations, Inc. VxWorks is a registered trademark of Wind River. All other trademarks used in this document are the property of their respective owners. |
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