The jcop framework

TL;DR: The overall architecture of the JCOP Framework is discussed, including the component nature of the FW and an overview of those which are provided, to discuss the advantages of this approach as seen from the application developer's point of view, in particular in highlighting the reduced development time.

Abstract: In order to reduce duplication, and hence reduce the overall manpower required for the development of the LHC experiment control systems, the Joint Controls Project (JCOP) was setup as a collaboration between CERN and the LHC experiments. The aim of JCOP is to provide common controls solutions for the four experiments. One deliverable of JCOP has been the selection of a number of standard technologies to be used for these systems. These include a Finite State Machine (FSM) toolkit, three communications protocols ‐ OPC (OLE for Process Control), DIP and DIM (CERN developed protocols) ‐ st andard PLCs (Siemens and Schneider), standard field buses (CANBus, WorldFIP, ProfiBus) and PVSS (Prozesvisualisierungs- und Steuerungssystem) for the supervisory level. The SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system PVSS is a highly sophisticated product and offers a lot of flexibility. As a result of this flexibility there are often several ways to implement something and this can make the product complex to use for an occasional user. Similarly, some of the other products, e.g. the FSM toolkit, are also potentially complex to use. Therefore, it was decided to create a layer on top of PVSS and the other tools to simplify their use for the application developer and also to provide customized components that can be used directly in an experiment control system. This activity, which is a major activity within JCOP, is the so-called JCOP Framework (FW) development. The JCOP Framework is an integrated and coherent set of guidelines, devices and tools that are required in common by the four experiments. This paper discusses the overall architecture of the FW as well as the associated deliverables. In particular, it will highlig ht the component nature of the FW and provide an overview of those which are provided. It will then go on to describe a number of these components in more detail and then finish by discussing the advantages of this approach as seen from the application developer’s point of view, in particular in highlighting the reduced development time.