Distributed Power Supply Control and Monitoring System

An extensible power supply control and monitoring system has been developed at Fermilab's Technical Division as a result of requirements to control and monior power supplies of various types from within many different applications. This system, deployed as a network service, provides uniform programming and user interfaces for various types of power supplies, ranging from 20A to 30kA. It allows for a concurrent multi-user access, with at most one application granted controlling capabilities at a time. Users can control and monitor the state of a power supply as well as monitor generated current by: a) sending separate requests to the service via provided C/C+ and Java APIs, b) uploading current control programs written in a specialized ramp profile description language to be interpreted by the system, c) scripting using a provided set of programs, and d) using supplied GUIs. In addition, special programs are available to monitor and log all control requests being sent to the service and to provide traces of current. Also, a graphical simulator is provided to facilitate testing of ramp profiles developed by the user.